As a network television producer, Gerry Straub had all the trappings of success --- a BMW, nice homes on both coasts and financial security. But, he left that life of privilege after a profound conversion experience led the 58-year-old to his present vocation as the president of The San Damiano Foundation, a Burbank-based secular Franciscan ministry putting the power of film at the service of the poor.

After 14 years as a CBS television executive in network operations in New York, Straub found his work creatively unfulfilling. A lapsed Catholic, Straub was also going through a spiritual search. In 1978, his faith journey led him to join the television department of the Christian Broadcasting Network. But, he left CBN two-and-a-half years later after becoming disillusioned with the organization's "dark, judgmental and oppressive interpretation of their faith."

Convinced by now that Christianity was a sham, Straub decided to return to network television. "I didn't think people's faith had any impact on their life and I sort of slid into atheism," explained Straub. He found a career niche in the daytime world of soap operas, serving as an ABC associate producer for "General Hospital," an NBC executive producer of "The Doctors," and, finally, as an ABC supervising producer for "Capitol."

But, as the years went by, dissatisfaction with his career crept in again. "I found myself asking, 'Who would watch this stuff?'" said Straub. While still working on "Capitol" in 1986, he penned a book, "Salvation for Sale," painting an unflattering portrait of CBN's televangelist Pat Robertson, which later fueled a media firestorm during Robertson's 1988 bid for the presidency. That same year, Straub decided to ease out of the television industry.

"With my wife's loving support, I withdrew from commercial television and picked up my pen and began my search for the God I had come to assume did not exist," said Straub. He spent four years working on a 479-page "dark, brooding epistolary novel" expressing anger against God and the Catholic Church which received positive reviews but sold just a few hundred copies.

Then he began "The Canvas of the Soul," a book exploring the connection between creativity and spirituality. Characters in the book included Vincent van Gogh, and St. Francis of Assisi. Personally, Straub was more interested in van Gogh, regarding St. Francis as a "pious fairytale with no relevance to modern people." However, for authenticity's sake, Straub decided to make a trip to Italy in March, 1995.

Surprise conversion

With introductions from a U.S. Franciscan pastor that he knew, Straub got a room in Rome at the Collegio Sant' Isidoro, a friary run by the Franciscan Irish Province which contains the largest English language library of literature on St. Francis in the world. Only the housekeeper was present when he arrived, so he went into the 17th-century church on the grounds of the friary to think. Prayer was not an option since he had long ago embraced atheism.

Suddenly, something happened while Straub was sitting in the silence of the empty church.

"Without warning, I felt the overwhelming presence of God," said Straub. "I didn't see any images or hear any words. I knew experientially that God was real, that God loved me. In that moment of revelation, I was transformed from an atheist into a pilgrim." He felt so moved, he got up and bowed before the altar. "I'm still living off that one moment," declared Straub.

Following a three-hour period of prayer and reconciliation with a Franciscan priest a few days later, Straub went to confession and received the Eucharist at Mass for the first time in a decade. "St. Francis of Assisi became my spiritual guide," said Straub. He abandoned writing his novel on Vincent and Francis, and instead, began writing about the life of St. Francis and his faithful follower, St. Clare, intertwining the story of his own spiritual pilgrimage.

Straub worked on "The Sun and Moon Over Assisi" over the next five years, intensely writing during annual stays at the Collegio Sant' Isidoro while he taught seminars on writing and documentary film making at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. "It was the writing of that book that gave birth to everything," said Straub. Published by St. Anthony Messenger Press in 2000, the book was named the best spirituality hardcover book of the year by The Catholic Press Association.

Love of the poor

In spite of Straub's intense research into St. Francis, which included eight trips to Assisi and discussions with numerous Franciscans, he still didn't fully understand St. Francis' love of the poor and poverty itself. A Franciscan friar suggested Straub spend some time with poor people, and he ended up living for a few days at the St. Francis Inn soup kitchen in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

During this experience, said Straub, "everything I ever thought about the poor and poverty was turned upside down."

He called a friend from "Good Morning, America" asking for help on making a film about the soup kitchen. Writing and making the 1997 documentary, "We Have a Table for Four Ready," was a life-transforming experience. The film was shown several times on PSB stations all over the U.S., resulting in a windfall of donations which allowed the friars to build an even bigger kitchen.

Obtaining the blessing of Father Giacomo Bini, the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor and the 118th successor to St. Francis, Straub next embarked on an international photography tour of Franciscan missions serving the poor. He visited impoverished areas and slums in 29 cities in India, Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, Italy, Jamaica, the Philippines, Canada and the U.S., ultimately producing a hardcover photo/essay book, "When Did I See You Hungry?" The book's film version, narrated by "West Wing" television star Martin Sheen, led to the creation of The San Damiano Foundation in January 2002.

In just three years, the foundation has produced five films. In addition to "When Did I See You Hungry?," the list includes "Embracing the Leper" about the organization Amazon Relief bringing aid to the lepers and chronic poor of Manaus, Brazil; "Rescue Me" based on the plight of the poor and homeless of Skid Row in L.A. and the work of the Union Rescue Mission; "Endless Exodus" centering on migrants from Mexico and Central America as well as the spirituality of migration; and "Holy Pictures," a visual meditation on St. Francis' passion for prayerful solitude.

Straub is in the midst of working on a sixth film, "The Patients of a Saint," about Dr. Tony Lazzara, an American doctor who has spent more than 20 years ministering to sick children in the shantytowns of Lima, Peru. Straub shot 27 hours of footage this past January, and he hopes to raise donations for the estimated $35,000 it will take to edit the film, record the narration, compose the music and manufacture the DVDs and VHS tapes.

Straub, who works 10 hours a day after attending daily Mass at his parish (St. Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood), recently returned from a speaking tour to Catholic and Christian colleges in Chicago and New York. He will soon be featured in an upcoming "Religion and Ethics News Weekly" program airing Sundays on PBS. Locally, he gives reflection workshops on the subject of poverty to parishes and hopes to branch out to schools as well.

"All the money and glory I got in network TV," he said, "could not compare with working on behalf of the poor and having these films make a difference in their lives."

For more information about The San Damiano Foundation, call (818) 563-1947 or write to Gerry Straub, P.O. Box 1794, Burbank, CA 91507. To order "The Son and Moon Over Assisi," contact St. Anthony Messenger Press, (800) 488-0488.