Hollywood actor and filmmaker Daniel Roebuck will shoot his second feature film in the Lehigh Valley this summer.
Promotional poster for Daniel Roebuck’s newest film to be shot in the Lehigh Valley, “The Hail Mary.” -PHOTO/SUBMITTED
Roebuck, a Bethlehem native, announced plans for the filming of the feature film, “The Hail Mary,” during a press conference at the Roxy Theatre in Northampton on March 10.
The actor, known for his starring roles in the television shows Lost and Matlock, as well as films like “The Fugitive,” “Halloween,” and “The Late Shift,” directed, produced, and acted in his first feature film in the Lehigh Valley, “Getting Grace,” in 2017.
Roebuck hopes to make the Lehigh Valley a center for the film business in America.
“The Lehigh Valley has heart,” Roebuck said, “and it loves art.”
“ “Getting Grace” is on Hulu,” Roebuck said. “25 million people can watch this on Hulu and what are we gonna do? Show them how great the Lehigh Valley is. People are going to want to come to the Lehigh Valley and they are going to want to do business in the Lehigh Valley.”
Bill Hartin, CEO of FIFO, a filmmaker consortium focused on promoting filmmaking in the Lehigh Valley, added that the filming of “The Hail Mary” will have a positive economic impact on our area. FIFO helps provide Roebuck with crew for his productions, and Hartin has seen the available filmmaking talent grow in the Lehigh Valley in the past several years, he said.
Hartin also explained how films bring revenue to the areas where they are made, by creating jobs and spending money on things like hotels, food, and equipment rentals.
Roebuck, whose films are faith based, has enlisted the sponsorship of area companies like Jaindl farms, St. Luke’s University Health Network, and Embassy bank for the making of this next movie, which will be a production of his nonprofit, A Channel of Peace.
Filming on “The Hail Mary” is expected to begin in July. The film will be released in 2021.
A buzz of excitement spread through the Lehigh Valley when Academy Award winning director M. Night Shyamalan filmed portions of his 2019 film “Glass” in Allentown in 2017.
“People said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, you can make a real movie in the Lehigh Valley?’’” said Bill Hartin, CEO of FIFO, a nonprofit film making consortium based in Easton.
“Well, yes. Yes you can,” he added, “and there have been many.”
In addition to “Glass,” said Hartin, portions of other big budget Hollywood movies have been filmed in the area, including “Transformers”, “School Ties,” and “Hairspray.”
And it hasn’t just been the occasional Hollywood blockbuster that has been filmed here. There are independent filmmakers who are making movies to great acclaim right now in our own backyard.
These films don’t just have an artistic impact, but a financial one. Make no mistake, film is not just an art, but a business.
Filmmaker and actor Daniel Roebuck, with actress Madelyn Dundon on the set of his 2017 production, “Getting Grace,” filmed in the Lehigh Valley – submitted
The film and television industry in Pennsylvania directly employs over 14,000 people, and pays more than $760 million in wages, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Those wages are being spent in Pennsylvania’s communities, further fueling the area’s economy.
To determine the economic impact of a film on any given area, according to Hartin, the standard formula is the “rule of 2.5.” That means that the amount of money spent on the film in a specific location can be multiplied by 2.5 to determine the economic contribution.
Thus, hypothetically, if it cost $2 million to film a scene for “Transformers” in Bethlehem, $4.5 million made its way back out into the community.
Certainly, with independent filmmakers and big budget studios choosing to make movies in the Lehigh Valley, there is a positive financial impact. Yet, the film industry remains a relatively under the radar and undervalued segment of Lehigh Valley business.
LVB talked to key players in the area film industry to find out why.
*movies listed with filmmakers below are just a sampling of their work and not a full list
Stevan Mena
Long Island based director/writer who films in the Lehigh Valley, works in the horror genre
Malevolence (2004), Brutal Massacre- A Comedy (2007), Bereavement (2010)
I’ve shot four out of my last five movies in the Lehigh Valley. I was first invited to film there by Cathy McCauley of the now defunct Lehigh Valley Film Council.
I quickly fell in love with the area and its locations. You can go from farmland to cityscapes to mountain ranges in minutes. And you’re just 90 minutes from Manhattan and Philadelphia, making for a great pool of actors and crew talent.
Filmmaker Steven Mena uses Lehigh Valley locations for most his films. – submitted
I live in Long Island, but shoot in the Lehigh Valley, which tells you a lot about how much I love working there.
Here’s where the Valley can improve when it comes to attracting more film makers, however. In Long Island every town has a welcoming committee for filmmakers. The Lehigh Valley needs something like that. Harrisburg has a state film office but it doesn’t expand into the Valley.
There needs to be a web presence that is designed for filmmakers. It would be smart to have something set up with a list of resources, like filmmaker friendly hotels, companies that are open to investing through product placement, rv rentals…I’ve had to find this all on my own. I had to negotiate my own rates for 30 people to be housed in hotel rooms for a month. There is nothing already in place at hotels in the area.
There is also a huge pool of untapped investors who would be interested in investing in film locally, but don’t know where to start. Setting up some orchestrated meetings between investors and film makers, some meet and greets, where deals can be set up, would be a great first step.
Bill Hartin
CEO and founder of FIFO (Fade in/Fade out), an Easton based nonprofit film making consortium dedicated to independent film making
Here in the Valley, we don’t yet have soundstages and backlots, but we have filmmakers. What is really lacking is the seed money. What I would like to see is a half a million dollars in an angel investor fund. We could decide, if a film came to us and applied, if we wanted to invest in that film to fill the gaps in funding it might have.
We could set up meetings of select potential angel investors where we say, “Look, we are not here to talk about art, we are here to talk about an investment opportunity for you.”
The Valley also needs local accounting firms that specialize in film financing. We need entertainment lawyers. These things will attract film makers who won’t have to go to the more expensive firms in Philly or New York.
At the end of the day, the more people we can get to make films in the Valley, the more of an identity the Valley will have, and the more film makers will come.
It’s that famous movie line, “If you build it, they will come.”
Sean Tiedeman
Lehigh Valley native and area director/writer/producer who primarily works in documentaries
RoboDoc: The Creation of Robocop (2019), King of the Arcades (2014), Hell’s Half Acre (2006)
Documentary filmmaker and Lehigh Valley native Sean Tiedeman, on set with musician “Weird Al” Yankovic – submitted
I’ve done this full time for over 20 years. One thing I know is that for as much as you love it, it is a business, and to survive, you have to make money.
“King of Arcades” was funded in part by raising $50,000 on Kickstarter. For every million dollars made, how much does a filmmaker take home of that money? Everyone takes a piece of the profit. The distributor takes a piece. It is so tough to compete these days. The profit margin can make it not worth it.
But when a community is supportive of independent filmmakers like myself, it helps develop a sense of pride and we become heavily invested in the area. When we return with our next project we often have additional knowledge, more experience, bigger crews, and more money. All of which benefit the area economically.
I’m confident that more productions will embrace the sense of magic and convenience the area has to offer and find their home in the Valley.
Daniel Roebuck
Los Angeles based director/producer/actor and Lehigh Valley native who now produces faith based films in the Valley
The Hail Mary (pre-production), Getting Grace (2017), The Fugitive (actor 1993)
I like to focus less on the financial impact and more on the emotional impact movie making can have on the Valley. Show the rest of the world how great it is before you can monetize it.
The Valley fought back after the loss of Bethlehem Steel and art is a part of that. We can use art like film as bait to bring in other business.
Once Hollywood notices, the economic impact increases, more hotels are rented, more local crews are hired, more money is spent on catering…
Would it be great if there was an area film commission? Yes, but I would worry that it would be corrupted. I don’t know that the government should help us with incentives to make a movie. As a businessman, I’ll look for investors.
Filmmaker and actor Daniel Roebuck – submitted
There were investors who believed in my vision. I partnered with St. Luke’s for “Getting Grace,” and what a blessing that was. It brought a sense of realism to the film (in which the main character has terminal cancer). We filmed in St. Luke’s Hospice and we used St. Luke’s scrubs and tags.
I’m open to subtle product placement as a way to help fund a film as well. The Jaindl family, of Jaindl Farms, were producers on “Getting Grace.” They own A-Treat soda, and we had a character drink A-Treat in the movie.
The right and emotional thing to do is the best investment. God has a plan for me, I just have to honor that. I live in California now, so why shoot in Bethlehem? Bethlehem chose me. I realize that part of my destiny is the Lehigh Valley. I was placed there as a child so I could grow up and celebrate it as an adult.
I did what I set out to do, and that was to make a love letter to the Lehigh Valley.
My third film will also shoot in the Valley. The intention is to grow the area’s film industry, to ultimately bring more movies to be made. We are growing it. Zeke’s (see below) growing it. FIFO is growing it.
Initially, let’s look at the emotional impact. The more that impact, the more the financial impact. The more people that know that the Lehigh Valley exists, the better for every film made here, including my own.
Zeke Zelker
Lehigh Valley based director/writer/producer and Valley native whose films have debuted at the Sundance Film Festival
Billboard (2018), Pandemic (2011), In Search Of (2009)
My family founded Dorney Park in Allentown in the late 1800’s. So I grew up immersed in the entertainment business in the Valley. It’s what I know.
Over the past 20 years of making films here, I have spent over 10 million dollars. Multiply that by 2.5.
The 2.5x multiplier shows the ripple effect of movie making on a local economy. It’s not just the people being paid, the actors, and the crew. There is the renting of hotel rooms, the catering, the film equipment rental…
Filmmaker Zeke Zelker (right) and actor Eric Roberts during filming of “Billboard” – submitted
The problem is that there is not enough infra-structure in place for filmmakers in the Valley. The cities can create a film fund and find a pool of investors. As creatives we don’t think enough about management or finances. We think about creation. But funding is needed to create.
Other states ask me to come and produce there, but I stay here because it is my mission, even though it is harder for me to create here.
Because of my own fortitude, we do well. I am investing in my own projects. We are on average only 8 to 10 percent investor funded while a lot of films are 100 percent investor funded.
As you get bigger, you need more capital and more resources. People on the outside don’t think about the economic impact of it. They don’t know the business aspect. They are only familiar with box office numbers. That doesn’t tell the whole story.
And people don’t understand what they don’t know. Let’s help them understand what the film business can do for the Valley.
Can I bring more film to the area? Absolutely. The challenge is we need the resources to do it.
The filming of “Glass” did make Allentown money, and the same for “Transformers” in Bethlehem.
Why aren’t there more films like “Transformers” and “Glass” being made here? Because there is no one marketing the Valley as a filmmaking destination. That’s what a film office does. That’s why Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are getting all the films. We are the third largest area in the state of Pennsylvania. Why isn’t there a film office?
I know the positive impact filming here has, and that is why I moved back to the Lehigh Valley after film school.
I’m living my mission. I wanted to expose the Lehigh Valley to the world and I am doing that.
Ashley Ohlin, 30, desk manager for Brown Daub Chrysler Jeep in Palmer Township, often works in tandem with Joey Hoagland, 64, lease retention manager for the dealership.
Despite the over three decades between them, Ashley and Joey have an easy rapport and a good working relationship. Even so, generational differences between the two, and others of varying ages on the sales team, rear their head in the workplace.
Ashley Ohlin and Joey Hoagland of Brown Daub Chrysler Jeep in Palmer Township work well together despite their age difference. -photo by Dawn Nixon
“Millennials could learn a lot about hard work from older generations, but the older generation is sometimes too old school,” said Ashley. “They do a lot by paper and generally aren’t as good with technology. That can make you fall behind in this industry.”
Joey agrees that while it might be harder for a baby boomer like him to learn new tech, he sees a relaxed work ethic among millennials that frustrates him.
For a dedicated company man like Joey, who is always the first to arrive at work and the last to leave, watching a co-worker pass time on his phone or rush out the door at quitting time is a disappointment.
Joey and Ashley aren’t alone in their observations. Frustrations over generational differences are common on the job. Three and sometimes four generations are competing for time and attention in the workplace. And with each generation having its own unique value system, how can we all just get along?
What makes a generation?
Understanding what makes each generation tick is the key first step to bridge that generation gap, according to experts.
“A generation is an age group that shares a lifelong set of core values,” said Chuck Underwood, author of “America’s Generations in the Workplace, Marketplace and Living Room,” and founder of The Generational Imperative, Inc., an Ohio-based generational consulting firm.
“Each generation is a reaction to the previous one,” he said. “To understand someone and how they think, you can learn a lot by studying the generation they grew up in.”
Underwood explains that today’s workplace is made up of millennials , Gen-Xers, baby boomers and sometimes, the silent generation.
Who are all these people? Let’s take a look.
Millennials
They are between the ages of 18 and 37, are eager to learn from elders and have been raised by “helicopter parents,” according to Underwood. They have a short attention span, due to growing up with smartphones and easy access to information.
Chuck Underwood, expert in generational studies – submitted
Craving variety, they are frequent job hoppers. The average millennial has had six different full- time jobs by the age of 26.
Although over-parenting and technology have done some damage to this generation, according to Underwood, millennials have positive leadership values like being group focused, idealists and activists.
Generation X
Between the ages of 38 and 54, Gen-Xers are starting to move into the C-Suite and power positions at work. But with baby boomers and millennials getting all the press, they are the most overlooked.
According to Underwood, Gen X has been failed by the government and their parents, saddled with the effects of their parents’ divorces and student loan debt. Because of this, they are less trusting, don’t like baby boomers and prefer to work alone.
On the positive side of this, Gen-Xers are independent and efficient. Underwood calls them “an army of 59 million armies of one.”
Baby Boomers
They are between 55 and 73 and taking their turn at the top. Boomers have a strong work ethic and care about the good of the organization, yet often struggle to adapt to new technology and ideas.
The Silent Generation
The oldest people in the workforce, they are between the ages of 74 and 92, and can be found still at work in the fields of law, architecture and health care.
Four generations at work
Bill Hartin, founder of FIFO, a filmmaking consortium dedicated to growing and supporting the film industry in the Lehigh Valley, is in his mid 70s, on the border of the baby Boomer and silent generation. He often trains and works alongside millennials on film sets.
Hartin finds millennials to be less patient. “They want everything ‘now, now,’ ” he said. “And that mindset runs right up against the wall of pre-production.”
The more pre-production you do before you start rolling film, Hartin said, the better the film will be. While a location manager for “Getting Grace,” a faith-based film made in the Lehigh Valley and distributed nationwide, Hartin taught the young production assistants about the importance of pre-production, which can be a lot of hurry up and wait.
He also kept an eye on their phone usage, making sure they weren’t distracted from the set by their smartphones.
In the end, the young people were grateful for Hartin’s mentorship.
“That’s when one culture meets another,” said Hartin. “By the end of the first week, we were working together smoothly.”
Hartin himself was thankful for the youthful exuberance the millennials brought to the set. “I’ll never have that sort of ‘get up and go’ again,” he said. “That’s something important that millennials bring to the table.”
Theresa Schwartzer, herself a Gen-Xer, hires and works with all four generations as executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Univest Financial Corporation in Souderton. Schwartzer sees frequent generational differences in work styles.
“Boomers want more face to face meetings,” she said, “verses millennials who will say ‘Can we do this via conference call?”
Schwartzer sees Gen-Xers and millennials as more efficient, which helps the company learn to streamline and be more digital. “It’s easy for other generations to come down on millennials ,” she said, “and that’s not really deserved. They get a bad rap.”
Boomers, while not as efficient, are the workhorses of the office, she said. Their kids are out of the house, they don’t want to retire, and they have the time to devote to work.
The Gen-Xers in the middle are sometimes a little forgotten, according to Schwartzer. They are no longer the youngest people at the conference table, but they are not the boomer establishment. Still, they are the ones who are moving into leadership roles.
Schwartzer even has a few members of the silent generation in her office. “Those aren’t the ones to buck the system,” she said. “You see them but you don’t hear from them. They are doing their job and that’s it, they just like coming to work.”
At Norris McLaughlin, a law firm in Allentown, Patty Pernini, director of human resources, sees much of the same generational differences in her office.
At Norris McGlaughlin, a law firm in Allentown, a mix of generations work together – submitted
The baby boomers use more paper, while the millennials are paperless. Boomers have more loyalty to the firm, while millennials aren’t afraid to move on.
The millennials who are young parents also want the option to work from home, she said, while the senior attorneys have less tolerance for not being present in the office.
And the Gen-Xers? Well, they are somewhere in the middle of it all, with one foot in each world.
“Each generation brings a different perspective that benefits us,” said Pernini.
Finding common ground
Each generation has positive values that can benefit the others, says generational expert Underwood, who has been training corporate clients on managing generational differences for two decades.
Underwood recommends that workplaces offer training for managers and employees that highlight each generations beliefs, strengths and weaknesses.
Once each generation understands the other, he said, it’s easier to find common ground. And easier to work together.
“Regardless of age,” said Underwood, “we all want a good quality work life, bosses who are ethical and smart, and stimulating work that gives us purpose.”
While it’s easy for boomers to blame millennials for the problems in the workplace, and for millennials to blame boomers, (and for Gen-Xers to blame them both), no one generation is responsible for all the problems. Or all the successes.
Whether 18 or 88, we all want to be valued and respected. Taking the time to understand that is an important first step in fostering a better working relationship between us all.
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