FARMINGTON — In the fall of 2009, Travis Dockter, a 17-year old junior at Farmington High School, saw an advertisement on the side of his Facebook profile that caught his eye.

The short advertisement read "Chance to go to L.A., make short film, for teenagers."

"I'm pretty interested in film and stuff, so I said OK' and clicked on it," Travis said.

A few months later, in March, he was on a plane to Los Angeles to make a short film with a group of other teenagers.

Dockter was one of 17 teenagers from around the country selected to participate in the first Reese's Puffs Extraordinary Cinema Spring Break Adventure. He received an all-expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to spend a week learning how films are made in a very hands-on manner: he made one himself.

"We had tech workshops where we learned how to use all the equipment. We pretty much got to do everything," Travis said.

Travis's mother, Cristy Dockter, said the program encouraged Travis's nascent interest in film as a career.

"Today, I think he can go wherever he has the will to go, if he hangs in there and perseveres," Cristy said.

The adventure is a part of the Fresh Films program run by Chicago-based film marketing company Dreaming Tree Films. The program helps to connect teenagers who are interested in a career with film with celebrities who want to help share their success, company spokeswoman Alana Bardauskis said.

"Once you get to a certain level of celebrity, we find they want to find

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real authentic ways to engage with young people on a one-to-one level and show that anything is possible if you put in your time and talent," Bardauskis said.

Actor Dominic Monaghan, best known for playing Merry in Lord of the Rings and Charlie on the TV show Lost, was assigned to Travis's group to star in their short film, "Gloria." Monaghan plays a frustrated guitarist trying to make it in a band.

Travis said he was pleasantly surprised how enthusiastic Monaghan was to be a part of the project.

"He's a pretty big star. There's a bunch of teenagers asking him to do this little film. But he was prompt, he was energetic, happy to be there and really interested in what we were doing," Travis said.

But Travis wasn't the only one impressed during the filming, Bardauskis said.

"Dominic kept saying these teens are better than some of the professionals he's worked with. He was so impressed with what they were able to achieve in such a short amount of time," she said.

The film Travis and his teammates produced can be seen online at http://www.fresh-films.com/ where it is competing against other films produced during the adventure.

Travis enjoyed the program greatly, but his ambitions don't end at being behind the camera.

"Film is definitely going to be a big part of my life, but my focus would probably be acting," Travis said.

Patrick Hogan: phogan@daily-times.com