Travis Misarti, a 2012 graduate of Scarsdale High School, is a junior at the University of Tampa in Florida, where he's majoring in film and media arts. Misarti moved to Rye with his parents after graduating from Scarsdale High.
Misarti co-directed "Tea Time'' with another UT student, Alexandra Di Giacomo. The film was a Jury Award winner in the annual Campus MovieFest competition at UT this year and is advancing to the CMF finale in Hollywood in July.
In addition, Misarti and Di Giacomo were selected by the CMF staff to have their short film shown at the Cannes Film Festival.
"It is a huge honor for us to represent the Tampa film community there for two weeks this upcoming May,'' Misarti said.
"Tea Time" was shot and edited in less than a week. It was entered in the Campus MovieFest competition and placed in the top 16 in the nation. It was judged again and won as a top-four film. That earned the students a trip to Hollywood.
"To have an experience like this this early in my career is amazing," Misarti said.
The Cannes festival is May 13-24. Misarti estimates the trip will cost the co-directors about $10,000 for flights, hotel rooms and food. So far, they've raised $1,100 through this GoFundMe account.
"We have been diligently trying to raise funding for our expenses to attend the festival, as we are college students on a very tight budget,'' Misarti said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rye and receive free news updates.