Fan Film Shot on Long Island Screens at I-CON

A short film shot on Long Island last spring and starring local talent had its second-ever public screening at Friday and another showing is planned for Saturday.

Adapting an acclaimed comic book series, senior Ryan O'Leary, 21, of Monroe, N.J. wrote and directed the 30-minute fan film, "Y: The Last Man." The short stars James Kuck, 26, of North Babylon as the title character, who in an instant became the last man on Earth when a plague simultaneously killed every male mammal. He sets off on a cross-country journey to find the love of his life, who he can't be certain feels the same way about him.

O'Leary had taken a "comics to film" class at Five Towns and jumped at the opportunity to adapt "Y" for his final project.

"It's my favorite story in any medium," he said. "Something about it really spoke to me."

The comic book series included 60 issues and more than 1,000 pages. O'Leary said he broke it down to its basic elements to adapt it to a short film, having to cut plotlines concerning international espionage and the main character's pet  -- the last male capuchin monkey on earth.

Kuck said he hadn't read the series himself prior to being cast, but before filming he read as much as he could to familiarize himself with his character and the story.

The "Y" in the title stands for the main character's name, Yorick, and it poses the question, "Why is he, of all people, the last bearer of the Y chromosome?"
Before the plague he had an appropriate career: escape artist.

O'Leary and Kuck met at a Five Towns filmmakers networking night, during which O'Leary's film "A Bloody Mess" screened.

O'Leary said he didn't know when he would need an actor like Kuck, having stuck mostly to making comedies, but when he decided to make "Y," he thought that Kuck had the right look for Yorick.

The film co-stars Krystel Bua of Rocky Point and Elysia Segal, an actress originally from Florida and now residing in New York City.

"Most of it was shot in about three days," O'Leary said. Locations included Robert Moses beach, which stood in for Santa Monica, a house in West Islip, a street in Huntington, the studio at Five Towns, various locations in Brooklyn and outdoors shots in Central New Jersey.

It premiered at the Litchfield Hills Film Festival in Connecticut last weekend and O'Leary plans to post the entire film online on April 22. It will be found at www.ythelastmanfanfilm.com.

Another screening is planned for Saturday at 6 p.m. followed by a Q&A at the Stony Brook University Earth & Space Sciences Building in room 177. Only registered I-Con guests may attend.

Though Kuck attended Friday's screening, he is headed to the Hamptons Saturday to film another movie, "Ivy," by Five Towns student Matt Rosenberg of Levittown, a World War II film.