Most area residents know Bethlehem native Dan Roebuck for his roles in television series such as “Matlock” and “Nash Bridges” or from feature films such as “River’s Edge,” “The Fugitive” and “U.S. Marshals.’

However, now the Bethlehem Catholic High School graduate is furthering his producing career by returning to Bethlehem to produce and perform in “Getting Grace,” which is based on a script written by Jeff Lewis.

Although the original script is set in Michigan, Roebuck is enamored with making the film in his hometown.

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” Roebuck said. “I love Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley, so why not make this area a character in our film.”

It has taken Roebuck two years to rewrite the script.

“When I read it, I wanted to move it” to the Lehigh Valley and the Bethlehem area, Roebuck said.

In late October and early November, 2015, Roebuck visited Bethlehem to begin filming.He used the Lehigh Valley-based firm Aero Artistry to fly a drone over the city to capture the fall foliage as the setting for his movie. The results were spectacular in a preview shared with this writer.

Residents of the area will recognize the Herron Funeral Home, God’s Acre, Lehigh University, South Mountain and various other cityscapes being filmed from the air and incorporated into movie scenes.

“Getting Grace” is about a teenage girl who has terminal cancer and wants to understand what happens once you’ve died. She visits a funeral home to learn more about the after-death process and teaches the value of living to a diverse group of people in her quest.

Although an actress has not been selected for this lead role, Roebuck says it will take someone special and someone willing to have her head shaved.

Primary characters will include the girl’s mother, the funeral director, who is being played by Roebuck and a hospital chaplain. Roebuck said he is looking for seasoned actors to fill the lead roles and will be looking for local extras to fill out the cast.

In addition, Roebuck says he is going to rely on the support of the community for what is considered a low budget film at an estimated cost of $500,000. Catering services, filming locations, cast housing, dining locations and volunteers will all be needed. He says his “ultimate dream is to bring other movies to the Lehigh Valley, by building the film-making infrastructure” and sees the community’s involvement on making “Getting Grace” as an important step in accomplishing that.

Roebuck is looking to go into production in February and full production the following month. He expects to finish shooting in five weeks and take a halfyear in post-production.

His intention is to take “Getting Grace” to film festivals such as Tribeca, South by Southwest and Sundance hopefully to sell it.

Roebuck and Tammy Peralta are the film’s producers. Jeff Hartney, also a Bethlehem native, is co-producer.