Daniel Roebuck, Bethlehem Catholic “Distinguished Alumni” is bringing filmmaking to his Alma Mater.

Roebuck, a native of the Lehigh Valley, has amassed a resume of well over 400 hundred movies and television episodes. As a writer and director, he has helmed three movies filmed locally. The first, “Getting Grace,” has garnered a number of awards, many favorable reviews and been seen around the world.

Recently Roebuck turned his attention and experience toward making faith-based films that celebrate relationships with a higher power through the non-profit he co-founded, A Channel of Peace (www.achannelofpeace.org).

Since its inception, ACOP has also been dedicated to creating opportunity for young people to participate in the creation of those film projects through internships. Co-founder Tammy Roebuck had benefited greatly from an internship she enjoyed as a teenager which led her toward her own successful career in broadcasting, commercial directing and producing.

“Telling these stories is such an honor for us,” Tammy said, “but we can’t go on forever. Finding and teaching the next generation of artists the reality of this business and the art of filmmaking is a very joyful part of our mission.”

“Let’s not just talk about it theoretically,” Daniel said, “let’s roll up our sleeves and teach these kids how to do it from the ground up. Thanks to our films, we already have the greatest team of talented partners to help us teach the kids. I’m excited to get started.”

Partnering with his former high school seems like the perfect place to build and grow such a program.

Lucas Wilde, new Bethlehem Catholic principal, welcomes the Young Filmmaker Program and sees it as being in line with the Catholic Church’s emphasis on the use of digital communication tools to spread the Good News of the Gospel. Pope Francis recently said “Indeed, it is not enough to use the means of communication to spread the Christian message and the magisterium of the Church; it is necessary to integrate the message itself into the new culture created by modern communication.”

“I believe that I can speak for the entire Bethlehem Catholic community when I say that we very excited that A Channel of Peace and Danny Roebuck have chosen his Alma Mater as partners for this important mission,” Wilde said. “We pray that many of our students will follow in his footsteps.”

Bethlehem Catholic’s 2022 freshman and sophomore students will be the first to have the opportunity to take part in this new and exciting program, taught by Roebuck and a staff of professional filmmakers who share Daniel’s love and enthusiasm for the art form.

ACOP’s Young Filmmaker’s Program will begin as an extra-curricular activity with the hopes that the program will eventually be built into the school’s curriculum. It is A Channel of Peace’s intention that once the program is successful it can be offered at other schools. However, Bethlehem Catholic will be the only place the program will be offered for the foreseeable future.

Student participation in film productions would include writing, acting, sound design, camera operation, crewing the films, editing, and directing. Participants would also have an opportunity to work on local ACOP productions.

The goal of this program being the advancement of the art form and the discovery of future film making partners. The courses will be taught by many of the professional team that have helped Roebuck on his film projects as well as Diana Tice and other of Bethlehem Catholic’s teachers.

“This program is a dream come true for us at A Channel of Peace,” says founding board member Erin Maclean. “What an exciting opportunity to support awholesome educational space facilitating the creative talents of our youth and future filmmakers.”

A Channel of Peace operates solely on donations and is especially reliant of its corporate partners to create and continue programs such as the Young Filmmakers Program. Both Embassy Bank and The John and Alice Freeh Faith in Families Foundation have committed to seeing the program through its first year.