A junior at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, Adam Faze, 16, decided in October to organize a film festival. "I want to go to film school and work in the industry, but Loyola has nothing like that, which is strange because we're right here in LA (a part of the city is Hollywood where films are made)," he said. "So instead of sitting around and feeling unhappy, I decided to do something."
The school was unenthusiastic. "Every year, students approach me with many projects that are really difficult to carry out," said Lance Ochsner, Adam's adviser. "I thought it wouldn't happen, but I gave him the go-ahead anyway."
Adam sent letters and made cold calls, and got no response. By January, he had little more than a single participant: Jordan Roberts, the father of a friend and a writer-director. (Mr. Roberts had agreed to serve as a festival judge)
Then Adam looked through a catalog for Loyola's annual money-raising event and noticed that someone had donated two tickets to a Sony movie premiere (the first public performance of a movie). That person turned out to be an Oscar campaigner. By working the connection, he managed to line up a festival speaker: Michael De Luca, a three-time Oscar nominee (someone who has been officially suggested for the prize of Oscar) for producing films like "The Social Network".
"Adam's energy, enthusiasm and fearlessness are infectious," Mr. De Luca wrote in an email. "I wish I had done this at my high school!" Adam got a local newspaper to write an article about Mr. De Luca's involvement, and that started a sponsorship and submission wildfire.
The Loyola Film Festival is set for Saturday and advertised as "the best in student film making 7. It will feature 72 films in four categories.
But Adam is already focused on his next plan. In an email to a reporter, he wrote, "Could you mention that I'm still looking for a summer internship?"
