{"id":17959,"date":"2012-02-01T10:12:35","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T18:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=17959"},"modified":"2012-02-01T13:47:52","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T21:47:52","slug":"a-talk-with-roger-durling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=17959","title":{"rendered":"A Talk with Roger Durling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Linda Lopez<\/a>.\u00a0 Talk held at the Lobero Theater.<\/p>\n

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Note:\u00a0 These Q&A are based upon hand-written notes and should not be taken verbatim nor are they for public consumption.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

On January 31, Roger Durling, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival met with SBCC FS108A Film Festival Studies students at the Rosebud Lounge at the Lobero Theater for a Q&A session.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 How would an independent film producer submit their entry into the SBIFF, i.e. what is the process?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 We start looking for films around July, and are quite active in going out to find them. But, there is a website, \u201cWithout a Box,\u201d where film producers can upload their film, and we do look at them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who decides on which films will be shown?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 I do (with a smile).\u00a0 Actually, I get input from our category curators for each section or genre.\u00a0 For instance, nature, food, sports, foreign cinema, etc. The categories change every year but some never do.\u00a0 The point is to keep the film selection process fresh.\u00a0 We consider the film selections are a reflection of Santa Barbara (Latino, surf, extreme sports, food cuisine, music, etc.).\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 What is SBIFF\u2019s biggest challenge?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On February 15<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>, work begins for next year\u2019s SBIFF.\u00a0 We have a $3M budget.\u00a0 Our biggest challenges are:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Secure funding.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Staffing & Operations<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Need to hire full-time programmers.\u00a0 Up to now, they have only worked part-time during the year while holding down other jobs when they\u2019re not working for SBIFF.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 What college courses are in alignment for a career in film production?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 I always recommend taking business administration and marketing courses to my students who are interested in the film industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 Why is Puss-n-Boots 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 showing at the festival?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling<\/strong>:\u00a0 SBIFF is giving back to the community, but most of all, we are encouraging low-income families to participate in the festival. Puss-n-Boots and Kung Fu Panda, along with Hugo are being show for free (even supply free soda and popcorn).\u00a0 We have had families drive all the way from Santa Maria to take advantage of our free 3D movies.\u00a0 It really warms your heart to see people watch a 3D movie for free, especially since a 3D ticket usually costs $15 each.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 How did you come up for the festival dates?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 Every international film festival has to create their own identify.\u00a0 Also our festival dates were moved to this time of year (late Jan-early Feb) because the hotels and restaurants are eager to help us because they welcome the business during low-tourist season.\u00a0 This time frame also coincides time-wise before the Sag Awards.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 When is your busiest time in the year in preparing for the festival?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 From June to October most of my work is done.\u00a0 By the time the festival begins, I am only the Master of Ceremony.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 How long have you been with the SBIFF?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is my 9<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span> festival.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 What is your professional background?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m from Panama but left my country on a scholarship to study in the U.S.\u00a0 I left Panama because of dire circumstances and if you want to know more about it, Google \u201cRoger Durling Nothing to Hide.\u201d\u00a0 I first studied theater at Syracruse, then NY Columbia University for grad school in a Master of Arts program.\u00a0 Later I wrote a screen play in L.A. and sold it to a study.\u00a0 However, I became disillusioned with L.A. and Hollywood because they did what they wanted with it and I had no input.\u00a0 I then moved to Santa Barbara and opened the French Bull Dog Caf\u00e9.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 How did you get involved with the SBIFF?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 Ten years ago, when they were $125K in the red, I volunteered to work for free to turn it around, but if I did turn it around they would have to pay me.\u00a0 The first thing I did was change the dates of the festival as they are today.\u00a0 The second thing was to get Jeff Bridges to premiere\u201cSeabiscuit\u201d here.\u00a0 In one day, the SBIFF made $150K.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 What is your favorite aspect of your position?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 Having people enjoy the festival is like watching them open a gift.\u00a0 Also, the SBIFF provides education to kids at Title I schools.\u00a0 We offer them study guides which their teachers work with them prior to the festival and film seminars.\u00a0 I feel like Santa Claus in watching everyone\u2019s reactions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 Who is your favorite director and or person?<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 My favorite director is Pedro Almodovar!\u00a0 Also, Tim Luddy is the greatest film fest director.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong>\u00a0 Any advice for anyone wanting to go into the film business?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Durling:<\/strong>\u00a0 Never take \u201cno\u201d for an answer.\u00a0 Never give up.\u00a0 Always persevere.\u00a0 He pursued Christopher Plummer several times and also Martin Scorcece many times with negative results.\u00a0 But in the end, his perseverance worked.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0 These Q&A are based upon hand-written notes and should not be taken verbatim nor are they for public consumption.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Linda Lopez.\u00a0 Talk held at the Lobero Theater.   Note:\u00a0 These Q&A are based upon hand-written notes and should not be taken verbatim nor are they for public consumption. On January 31, Roger Durling, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival met with SBCC FS108A Film Festival Studies students at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1958,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-santa-barbara-film-festival-2012","category-tributes-and-qas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1958"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}