Interview with Roger Durling (2012) USA

Interview with Roger Durling (2012) USA

Reviewed by , Santa Barbara Film Festival

Our class was fortunate to be able to meet with Roger Durling and we were able to ask him questions about what he does for the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

These are the two questions I asked him:

What are some of your biggest challenges to get the film festival?

Roger Durling said that getting the finances together is the hardest thing for him. The artistic aspect of it is the fun part, but he has to make sure all his investors are all in. Also he has to coordinate with all of the local restaurants, hotels and retail stores.

How long are you the Director of the Film Festival?

Roger Durling said that he has a five year contract that he has and unless he does not mess up he thinks he will have the position for a long time.

We also learned a little about Roger Durling as a person. He is from Panama and came to the Untied for schooling when he was in middle school. He became successful play write and after he was done with that. He then began professor at Santa Barbara City College. Roger said his biggest inspiration is Tom Leddy, who is the director of Telaride Film Festival. He loves the educational aspect the film festival has. Some advice he gave to us, as students, was to take some business administration classes. He said no matter what you do these can teach useful skill to help you in your career. Also to never take no for an answer and to keep preserving until you get what you want. Although I never got to talk to him personally, he seems like the perfect guy for the director of the festival. If you want to learn more about him there is a very powerful article about him online called “A beautiful life.”