"I won The Price is Right one day," Derrick Ferree said casually, as a side note to his eight-week internship in Hollywood.

After playing "the check game," Ferree (junior-film) proceeded to the showcase and won $32,000 in prizes including a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix.

"I named the car Bobby, after Bob Barker," Ferree said.

Proudly sporting a Penn State sweatshirt on stage, the film student said the show allowed him the chance to experience the flip side of the camera.

"I hugged Bob and told him that I love him," he said.

Ferree is one of six Penn State juniors and seniors that spent June and July working on the Hallmark channel's Movie of the Week with Larry Levinson Productions. The interns worked as on-set production assistants, where they recorded film stock, and worked with the lighting.

"We worked 12-hour days, usually five or sometimes six days a week," Trevor Kress (junior-film) said.

On and off set, the students said they worked with Step by Step's Patrick Duffy as well as Doris Roberts from Everybody Loves Raymond and Lee Norris from Boy Meets World.

"I learned a lot more than I expected to learn," Ferree said. "I've heard of other experiences where interns have desk work or stand off to the side, but mine was pretty unique."

After receiving a $10,000 grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last spring, the Penn State College of Communications was able to fund a portion of the internship expenses for 10 film students, including the Hallmark group.

"We put together the application for the grant and sent it out early this year," said Bob Martin, director of the internship program in the College of Communications. "We didn't hear back for awhile so this was money we didn't expect to come in."

In the past, the Academy has given grants to prestigious universities specifically for film production internships. Penn State was pleased to be added to the list, he said. "The money goes a long way for students that want to go to L.A. or New York," Martin said. "It's really expensive and they [film students] are usually required to get out there and pay on their own."

The extra funds helped Jeff Romeo (junior-film) pay for his commute from Long Island to Manhattan where he worked with Scott Rudin Productions last summer.

"The internship doesn't pay and the train alone cost about $25 a day," Romeo said. He worked behind the scenes with the business side of the industry including office work and general organization.

Over 100 undergraduates submitted applications for all of the endowment funds in communications last semester. The college picked out student interests that specifically met the grant criteria.

"We helped make these kids' summer," Martin said.