Meeting with SBIFF director, Roger Durling (2011)

Reviewed by Alex Descano. Meeting held at Hotel Santa Barbara.

A few days before the Santa Barbara International Film Festival came to a close, I, along with the rest of the Film Festival Studies class, had the privilege of meeting with the festival’s director, Roger Durling. Meeting with Roger was by far the most intriguing and rewarding part of the festival.

Prior to attending the film festival I did not know much about Roger or his career. Surprisingly, he is an extremely open man so I was able to learn a great deal about him as well as the film festival during the meeting. Roger revealed intimate details about himself and the festival that can only be learned from speaking with him, therefore, the meeting was an incredible opportunity.

Roger began the discussion after someone asked, “what sets the SBIFF apart from other film festivals?”. The festival director made sure not to scrimp on the answer and gave an intricate explanation of what makes the SBIFF unique. It was so fascinating to hear that approximately eleven years ago, before Roger was directing the film festival and just working at a coffee shop, he pitched his idea of changing the dates of the event to take place around the same time as the Oscars; a suggestion that eventually led way to his career in the business. According to Roger, the festival director at the time instantly took to his idea and offered him a job. As you know, Roger’s idea became a reality and the SBIFF now occurs right before the Oscars, a smartly planned time frame no other film festival has.

Hearing Roger’s story and how he broke into the film industry almost by coincidence was rather inspiring. Roger is living proof that if you are passionate and persistent enough about something, you can make your dreams come true. He explained how he would talk about film to anyone that came into his coffee shop until finally, one day he was talking to the right person.

The best part about meeting with Roger was having the privilege to hear how the event is run and learn what goes on behind the scenes of the SBIFF. I was stunned to discover that nearly 3,000 films are entered into the festival and only 100 or so are selected to be screened. The most shocking aspect of this process is that a total of only 12 individuals watch all 3,000 films and determine whether they are SBIFF worthy or not.

Aside from divulging interesting facts about the festival such as that, Roger let us in on a few secrets of his own. Although it may be difficult to believe after reading what I have just wrote, Roger revealed to us that he is an extremely timid person. He explained that he becomes incredibly nervous during the festival and downright anxious when speaking with stars like Nicole Kidman during tributes and other events. Learning this personal fact about Roger was almost relieving, because it proved he was just another person like anyone else and not necessarily the “big shot”  some make him out to be.

Meeting with Roger  was a true inspiration and an encouraging experience. Roger proved to us that if you dream big you can succeed just as much. I am so grateful to have had the privilege to hear him speak and can definitely say it was my favorite part of the film festival.