Join Kim Munson as she welcomes actor, writer, and director Danny Roebuck to discuss his latest film, ‘Saint Nick of Bethlehem.’ This heartwarming movie promises to bring back the nostalgic feelings of classic Christmas tales, with a touch of humor and love. Danny shares the touching transformation of a man coping with personal loss and finding purpose in embodying the spirit of Christmas in a small town. Listen in as Danny talks about the process of creating this uplifting project and his passion for storytelling that transcends generations.
And welcome back to The Kim Munson Show. Be sure and check out our Web site. That is Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter and you can email me at Kim at Kim Munson dot com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. Something’s a good idea. You shouldn’t have to force people to do it. So pleased to have on the line with me Danny Roebuck. He is he’s a movie star and he has a substantial resume as an actor, writer, director. He’s been in the business for over 30 years and he can easily and it’s very apparent through some of his most recent movies that he can move easily between different medians and he’s worked in television movies and on the stage. His credits include The Fugitive, U.S. Marshals, and Final Destination, as well as other titles such as Agent Cody Banks and its sequel, That’s What I Am, Money Talks, Flash of Genius, and so many more. And now his favorite genre, though, is horror movies. We’re not really going to talk about that because he’s got this amazing movie coming out for holidays. I guess we can talk a little bit about that. Danny Roebuck, welcome to the show.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Kim, thank you. My gosh. Do me a favor. Just live a little longer than I do. I’d love for you to give my eulogy. Bring all that stuff. And the time is right. Just jump in there. I felt kind of like Tom Sawyer listening to his own funeral. That’s so sweet of you to say such nice things. Yeah, we got a new movie coming out, but a lot of movies in the past, and I’m open to talking about any of them. They’ve all been great opportunities to share the gift God gave me, no matter what the genre is.
Kim Monson (Host) :
Well, what I’m really excited about is my friend Susan Kochavar, who’s also a sponsor of the show. She’s owner of 88 Drive-In Theater here in the Colorado Front Range. And she closes, obviously, for the winter, but she’s going to do something very special to kick off the holiday season. She’s going to open the – and we have very – we’ve had a lot of snow last week, but we have – Denver actually has very mild weather. And, in fact, it’s supposed to be 50 today, 59 tomorrow. So hopefully we’ve got our fingers crossed for the weekend of Friday the 22nd, Saturday the 23rd, and Sunday the 24th of November, because she is going to be screening or showing your movie, St. Nick of Bethlehem. And I showed it to producer Joe yesterday. We were watching the trailer, and it is darling. It looks like a darling movie. So set this up for us, Danny Roebuck.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Well, it’s an extraordinary moment in time because this year Hollywood is giving you two kind of Santa opportunities. One is a Paramount Plus movie starring Jack Black as Satan, a kid they say isn’t so bright. He misspelled Santa’s name and his letter goes to Satan. And Satan comes and they have a Satan Christmas together. And the other one is Red One, where Santa Claus is kidnapped, and there’s a lot of explosions and sexual innuendo. And then there’s our movie, Saint Nick of Bethlehem.
Kim Monson (Host) :
I like yours.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Thank you. Go ahead. A regular fella suffered tragedy. His son died tragically and… without warning, and it sent this fellow on a downward spiral to the point where he kind of even let himself go, put on weight, you know, didn’t shave, started looking like Santa Claus. People started saying, hey, Santa, calling him Santa. And, well, he decided that he was going to put on that persona to try to assuage his grief, and he found that with every present he gave, He also gave away a bit of his grief. And so the story is about this transformation and this acceptance of a tragedy and moving on to another phase of his life, which is a godly good person phase through which he portrays Santa Claus for his community.
Kim Monson (Host) :
Well, and the story also, it looks like there’s a bit of a love story in it as well, yes?
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Which is also based on, yeah, the guy, after all this tragedy, ended up, would you believe, finding his high school sweetheart. And she’s now his Mrs. Claus. It’s just… Yeah, there’s a love story, there’s comedy. It’s a funny, I’ve made four movies, collaborated on two of them, one with my own daughter getting, my daughter Grace, we made a movie called Lucky Louie, a very fun mystery that’s on, you know, you can find it on Netflix. Amazon Prime and everything. And Spencer Fulmar and I made this one because he had found the story and we co-wrote and co-directed it. And we just wanted it to be completely entertaining 100% of the time. And it flies. It’s an hour and a half sleigh ride through Christmas.
Kim Monson (Host) :
I love that. Now, Danny, as I was doing some research, it’s St. Nick of Bethlehem. And you grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, or you were born there, right?
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
I did, and I did grow up there. There’s no town in America that does Christmas like Bethlehem. It is the Christmas City is their moniker, and they’ve even doubled down their Christmas presentations. They have a Chris Kindle Mart. They have these glass furnaces, and they light them for Christmas with red and green lights. It’s like their Eiffel Tower. This downtown Bethlehem, one of the reasons that it’s a great place to celebrate Christmas christmas uh kim is because uh it was founded in the 1740s by the moravians and they were a very tight-knit religious group and uh they felt that they found a very humble area uh that could serve their needs it wasn’t grandiose and the um The story is that the original founder of the town, I think it was Count Zinzendorf, who was the pastor, and I could be getting this wrong, said, you know, Bethlehem was a lowly town raised high by the birth of Christ. So they humbly named their town Bethlehem with the hopes that it would… it would spurn great things into the world.
Kim Monson (Host) :
Wow, that’s amazing. So, Danny Roebuck, you’ve been in the business for a long time. And Susan Kochavar, who is the owner of 88 Drive-In Theater, has as well. And are you seeing the American people are really gravitating? Are they hungry for these kinds of movies? Or what do you see?
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Well, here’s what I feel that I see, and I don’t want to rile feathers, but you’re asking me a question, so I’m going to give you my answer. I think what’s happened in recent weeks in the country is a clear indication that everything’s moving too fast and people require it to slow down. And, you know, it’s not that people are opposed to change, but it can’t be demanded of them, you know. And so I think we have to slow down. And so much of the entertainment people have been getting lately, and I’m sure Susan notices it, is is tinged with a political activism. And I can’t lie and say there’s no activism behind my films. My films have a godly activism. You don’t have to believe in God to be entertained by them, but it might help you understand them at a deeper level. And I just think people want centric, easy to follow, easy to watch, simple comedy, simple drama. that’s what I think they want. And that’s the kind of movies I’ve been making. Like I set my personal clock back to my favorite movies are from the 70s. Not every favorite movie is from the 70s, but many of them are. So I set my clock to the 60s and the 70s, and I try to make movies that would fit. If you watched it 40, 50 years ago, you’d think it was made at the same time.
Kim Monson (Host) :
That’s so interesting, because when Joe and I were watching your trailer, it really touched us. So Joe’s 26, and it reminded him of some of the Christmas movies. And Joe, you can jump in and hear my ear, but I think it was, at least from the trailer, was… A wonderful life, I think. It just really touched his heart and it touched mine as well. So I’m very excited about Susan bringing this in and have it out at the 88 Drive-In Theater. And I think it’s going to be really exciting. And I really appreciate you taking the time to join us and just give us the human interest component of this, Danny Roebuck. I’m really excited about it.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
I’m so blessed that people want to talk about this stuff. Look, I’m a kid from a small town. Bethlehem’s a beautiful place, but it’s not huge. And, you know, I was set on the path, and the path was so clear to me, probably like your path, Kim, is clear, was clear, and it always has been maybe. And the path was so clear, and I look back now and I think, All of the success was to lead me back home and to give me the knowledge to do what God needs me to do to celebrate the people and the area and the ideas of this small town. And they’re not all. They’re not all. You know, the ideas aren’t all. and they’re not all godly, but they’re, you know, it’s a town that has a great center down between progressiveness and nostalgism, and it’s just a really exciting place to be. And I love it so much, I think we’re pulling up stakes in California and moving to Bethlehem.
Kim Monson (Host) :
Now that, so you’re really making a statement there, Danny Roebuck. Well, I think that we’re going to get a talk again before the movie is here in Denver. But Danny Roebuck, St. Nick of Bethlehem, keep up the great work, and we will talk again soon, and have a great day.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Can I just ask, Kim, people to follow it on Facebook or follow me on Facebook or Instagram, but St. Nick and Bethlehem or Daniel Roebuck, and you’ll get a lot of good information and a lot of behind-the-scenes information. Thank you so much for having me.
Kim Monson (Host) :
You bet, and we will talk very soon. And, again, that last name is spelled R-O-E-B-U-C-K. And, Danny, have a great day.
Danny Roebuck (Host) :
Thank you, Arm. Bye-bye.
Kim Monson (Host) :
And I want to continue on the show having these human interest stories as well and, of course, talk about these important ideas. And we get to do this because of our sponsors. And Karen Levine can help you if you want to buy your home, sell a home, or if you’re looking at a new build.
