Shooting for ‘Lucky Louie’ film is underway in the Lehigh Valley
Sister Alice really had her hands full.
One of her students was sobbing inconsolably over how filthy her new shoes had become. Sister Alice knew just what to do: Use her habit to wipe them clean and make them look brand-new again.
Sister Alice didn’t mind that her habit was a muddy mess. She was glad to do it — an act of kindness.
“Cut. You got it,” Daniel Roebuck said.
The prolific character actor/ screenwriter/director was filming scenes for his second faithbased, independent film, “Lucky Louie,” on Thursday in Bethlehem.
“Can I get some moleskin here quick?” Roebuck asked as he was getting the Mary Janes ready for the next scene, which involved a group of children dashing across the street with Sister Alice.
It was the third day of shooting for the movie, which will be filmed at different places around the Valley over the next three weeks. Days ago, the crew was in Bangor, but Thursday’s location was on a grassy corner off Edgeboro Boulevard in Bethlehem. Folks out walking through the neighborhood stopped to watch as production continued.
“I used to trick or treat here as a kid,” said Roebuck of the neighborhood. He grew up in Bethlehem and attended nearby St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church.
Roebuck has had a successful career as a Hollywood character actor for more than three decades, having worked on many movies, such as the 1993 classic “The Fugitive,” and a lengthy list of TV shows including “Lost,” “Matlock,” “West Wing,” “NCIS” and “Law & Order.” Two years ago, he made his directorial debut with “Getting Grace,” his first independent, faithbased film shot exclusively in the Lehigh Valley and featuring several Valley actors.
Since then, he’s continued to work in Hollywood as an actor, but has shifted much of his professional focus to work with an ecumenical message — that there’s something bigger than all of us, guiding our lives. This year, he established a nonprofit production company in the Lehigh Valley, A Channel of Peace, which is a reference to the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.
The company’s goal is to produce faith-filled family entertainment. Originally another film, “The Hail Mary,” was to be the first A Channel of Peace project, but Roebuck postponed it until summer 2021 due to the pandemic.
Roebuck, who always looks at life through the lens of his Catholic faith, saw the changes necessitated by the pandemic as part of God’s plan. He used the opportunity to work with his daughter, Grace Roebuck.
The father-daughter duo co-wrote “Lucky Louie,” a smaller project that is also Grace’s directorial debut.
“Lucky Louie” is about a retired police officer, four ex-convicts and a behavioral science major who team up to solve a 50-year-old bank robbery. As with nearly everything Roebuck does, the film promises to be amusing, but it’s also focused on faith and second chances, a classic whodunit with a spiritual twist.
The cast includes Basil Hoffman, who has spent a lifetime in TV and film, including “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Ordinary People,” “All the President’s Men” and “The West Wing.” Hoffman plays the retired cop. Stephanie Zimbalist, a veteran actor best known for her role as Laura Holt in the 1980s NBC detective series “Remington Steele,” also is in the cast, as is Maddy Dundon, who played the title role in “Getting Grace.”
COVID-19 has of course made filming more challenging. Thursday’s set was completely outside and small, with maybe 30 crew members — all in masks as much as possible. Those who weren’t actively working stayed socially distanced.
The film is an opportunity for Valynn Turkovich, a Presbyterian, to stretch herself as an actress.
She plays Sister Alice, whohas a key role in the film. (No spoilers).
“I have never played a nun, so this is a very unique and different experience,” Turkovich said.
While Roebuck plans to film in fewer locations than “Getting Grace,” the Lehigh Valley will again be a main character. Roebuck hopes to release the film by early next year.
Info: facebook.com/achannelofpeace or achannelofpeace.org.