“We are booking and scheduling our directors now,” reveals Jason Bateman about progress on the final season of Netflix’s “Ozark” in his exclusive interview with Gold Derby (watch the video above). He explains, “I was supposed to do — as I always do — the first two episodes, but as we started to get into looking at the protocols and the guidelines for COVID, I realized that as a producer, it probably wouldn’t be smart to have the actor also directing because as a director, you’re exposed to location scouting and production meetings and all of these opportunities to become sick.” Bateman qualifies about returning in the future to the director’s chair later into production, “Directing the finale of the show would be something I’d really love to do obviously, so I’m thinking about that, but looks like I’m going to be directing something right at the end of the show as well.”
Having won the Emmy for Best Drama Directing for “Ozark” last year for the second season, Bateman is nominated this year for the third season in Best Drama Actor, as well as Best Drama Series as its executive producer. He has an additional nomination in Best Drama Guest Actor for the debut of “The Outsider,” which he also directed and produced. HBO has curiously not renewed that ratings hit in the five months since its finale aired. “It’s something that they’re considering,” updates Bateman.
“You need to set the table for the meal you’re going to put in front of the audience,” says Bateman during a larger conversation about what went into making the existing episodes of “The Outsider” and “Ozark.” He explains about the miniseries that informed him when building the worlds of his shows, “I know that ‘Top of the Lake’ was a big influence for me for ‘Ozark;’ ‘The Night Of’ was a big influence for me for ‘Outsider’ and in both instances, both references are similar in that there’s such a specific environment visually and musically that those two shows — ‘Top of the Lake’ and ‘The Night Of’ — dropped the viewer into, so that they are conditioned to receive all of the really incredible writing and performances that both those shows brought.”
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
