Rom-Com Films Inside Hempstead Lake State Park

Should you apologize for cheating on someone if you're not dating exclusively?

If your relationship status on Facebook reads "It's Complicated" you may have run into this awkward situation, which is the premise of the romantic-comedy "Sorry," a short film shot in Hempstead Lake State Park earlier this month.

The duo of Steve Strangio (screenwriter) and Dan Marquardt (director), the filmmakers behind last month's " teamed up again for this project and returned to the West Hempstead-Rockville Centre landmark.

"Hempstead Lake State Park is a perfect location to film any type of
movie and I firmly believe that this location should be used more
often by filmmakers," said Marquardt, a Rockville Centre native who left ‘Corporate America’ in 2010 to pursue his passion for filmmaking and recently spoke to Patch.

Patch: What drew you to this screenplay?

Marquardt:  Of the six or seven scripts I read by Steve, there were three that
caught my attention and imagination – “Psycho Consensual,” “Sorry” and
another script called “Our Place,” which is our next project. I have to
admit, I have become a fan of Steve Strangio.

Patch: What do you like about Hempstead Lake State Park?

Marquardt:  As a kid I used to walk my dog through the park, or even just
hang out there by myself. I loved the beauty of the lake, the woods
and would spend countless hours there. I always found safety and
solitude there. It was a place I could clear my head and reflect…be at
peace with myself and with the world.
 

Patch: Tell us about the filming.

Marquardt: It was a very cold and chilly Sunday morning. My main concern was for the health and safety of all involved. The cold can be unforgiving, but everyone, including the actors, sucked it all up and stayed true to their performances.
The filming was the easy part. Our actors, Josh Shaffer and Meghan McAsey were amazing to work with. True to their profession, the pair came to the shoot well prepared and ready to go. All I had to do was keep up!

Patch: Where there any bloopers?

Marquardt: I’m sure every set has bloopers and we had ours. There was this one scene where Josh’s character gets down on his knees to apologize. I was filming a close up on Josh so we were both knelt down on the ground, and I was focusing in closely on Josh’s face, not realizing that a dog had sat down right next to me. The dog’s head was right next to mine and it just sat there watching quietly. When they finally noticed it, Josh and Meghan broke character and broke
out laughing.  You can’t bIame them though it was a cute dog and a wonderful moment.

Patch: Have you ever been in a relationship like the one portrayed in the film?

Marquardt:  I think so…I’m not really sure.

Patch: What do you hope the audience takes away from this?

Marquardt: Communication in any relationship should be the key focal point.
Without communication, we could never clarify our truths, our feelings
and thoughts. We could never understand each other or be able to compromise.

You can watch 'Sorry' by clicking on the video to the top right.