LOS ANGELES — If audacity is the way to get ahead in Hollywood, Adam Faze has a prosperous career ahead of him.

A junior at Loyola High School here, Adam, 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 weird because we’re right here in L.A.,” he said. “So instead of sitting around and sulking, I decided to do something.”

The school was unenthusiastic. “Every year, students approach me with grand ideas that are really difficult to execute,” said Lance Ochsner, Adam’s adviser. “I thought there was no chance it would happen, but I gave him the go-ahead.”

Adam sent letters and made cold calls, and essentially 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.)