Discussion with Roger Durling (2/1/2008)

The discussion we had with Roger Durling at the Santa Barbara Hotel was informative as well as entertaining. The Santa Barbara Film Festival is a charming and eclectic collection of films, very reflective of the festival’s director. Appearing bold and slightly flamboyant with his bright and outlandish hairstyle, Roger is ironically a rather shy person.

Building his career off of his love for film, Roger moved to Santa Barbara originally in order to open a coffee shop. It was there he was able to hold his mini informal film discussions. Gaining notoriety among the local film buffs, Roger voiced his complaints about the Film Festival, eventually earning him a position on the board. After witnessing another annual failure, he earned his chance to be in charge. He managed to turn the entire event around and into a multi million-dollar festival. He focused on creating an identity our specific film festival. Eventually it became know as the “Oscars” festival due to it’s proximity to the upcoming Academy Awards. The Santa Barbara Film Festival is also known for having the most likely Oscar winners make appearances.

Roger’s obvious passion for film is what makes this specific festival the success that it is. He explains that a good festival always represents the community that its in. The diversity of the films in our festival most definitely represents our diverse community. I think that as long as this event remains in the hands of Roger Durling we will have many good years to look forward to.