By Brendan O’Reilly

An old man with white hair and sickly eyes lies in a hospital bed. “Get well” cards are arranged on a nightstand. Gazing at the man, sitting on the edge of a chair, is a young boy. After the boy turns down an invitation to get lunch, the man perks up.

“Smart choice. The food here is almost as bad as the medicine,” says the man with a smile.

But this man isn’t dying. They aren’t even in a hospital. This sad scene is taking place on a makeshift film set in a classroom inside the Chemistry/Physics Building on the University’s campus. All the desks are pushed to one side of the room, and lights and a hospital curtain are erected on the other.

It is all part of Dan Longfellow, II’s vision, “Sugar Coated.”

Longfellow, a senior film student and resident assistant, wrote the script for “Sugar Coated” in October. Now, four months and a few thousand dollars later, his script is coming to life.

The story is about an 11-year-old boy named Jack whose family is keeping him in the dark about his grandfather’s inevitable death.

“It’s based loosely off my on experiences,” says Longfellow. “I lost my grandfather to Lou Gehrig’s disease.”

Tyler Anderson, a 14-year-old actor from South Jersey, plays Jack. Tyler’s mother, Sandy Anderson, not only agreed to let her son work for free like the rest of the actors, but is paying to stay in a motel for the weekend of shooting.

“Why would we do a film for free? Simply because, you need the experience – the exposure,” says Mrs. Anderson. “And you need something for your resume, because if you’re not currently working – doing something – then people who do pay aren’t going to be as interested in working with you.”

Though Longfellow is not paying anyone for their services, he compensates them other ways.

“I did have to buy lunch for the cast and the crew everyday,” Longfellow says. He paid for the actors’ transportation as well. Longfellow found most of his actors by posting a casting call on Mandy.com, a directory of film and television resources.

“I got a whole bunch of emails back,” Longfellow says. After choosing which actors he wanted to meet, Longfellow rented a studio in New York City and held auditions.

When the actress Longfellow cast to play Aunt Lisa canceled at the last minute, Mrs. Anderson agreed to fill in. Though a minor part, she shares screen time with her son.

On many shoots, “Sugar Coated” being no exception, actors find themselves waiting for hours until they are called to the set. To pass the time, Mrs. Anderson crochets. As Tyler dug through her purse, looking for his Nintendo DS, she explains how they have spent more time waiting around on some professional commercial shoots than on student film shoots.

“We were unorganized at some points,” says Longfellow, adding that Sunday was very efficient. It took until Saturday evening for him and his crew to get their routine down.

Longfellow’s crew, including camera and boom operators, gaffers, a script supervisor and production assistants, is made up of fellow Hofstra students. Students in the senior film class are required to participate in their classmates film shoot. However, Longfellow says of his 15 person crew, only five are from his class. The others participate simply because they wanted to help, and they are passionate about film. Many film students opt not to take the course, as it not required for graduation and it can be expensive.

“It’s all out of pocket,” says Brian Valente, a senior film major and the treasurer of the Hofstra Filmmakers Club. “It can range anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000.”

“If you cut out the cost of film, I think most people would be interested in the class,” says Valente. Each roll of film costs $200 to buy and develop, and it takes about one roll per page of script to get the finished product. Valente, Longfellow’s assistant director, says he wants to shoot his senior film on video tape rather than skipping out on the class entirely. “I’d miss out on learning the knowledge that I need to pursue an actual career,” says Valente. “[The class] gives you an opportunity to feel out the different positions in the film industry.”

Longfellow concurs that he benefited from the opportunity to work on different shoots in many capacities. “I found I don’t really like producing at a high level,” says Longfellow. “Mostly I want to work with the story, work with the actors.”

He expects “Sugar Coated” to be completed for $3,500, with most of the cost being for rolls of film. His grandmothers gave him money to support his film, and the rest of his costs he is paying for through student loans. Longfellow says the experience of making his film is worth the expense, however. “I’ll have a really good film under my belt,” he says

Longfellow will submit his film to the Hofstra Student Film Festival, held by the audio/video/film department at the end of each school year, and to other festivals as well.

Filming of “Sugar Coated” with the characters of Jack and his grandfather.

Longfellow (left) and Anderson on the set.