For 13 years, Roger Durling has been the executive director of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. In this role, he has grown the festival from a community event into an international attraction with films from around the world. This includes establishing a series of industry panels, producing numerous celebrity tributes, developing the Cinema Society for yearly subscribers, and creating the 10-10-10 filmmaking competition for college and high school students, to name a few. Concurrently, Roger is an adjunct film studies professor at Santa Barbara City College, where he teaches courses in film appreciation, film genres, and great directors. Roger is passionate about supporting education, and is a member of the Leadership Council of his high school alma mater the Peddie School, a preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey and on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Santa Barbara City College. This year’s festival runs from Feb. 3-13. In anticipation of this year’s lineup, which this year will honor the likes of Brie Larson, Rooney Mara, Johnny Depp and the cast of Spotlight, we thought we’d see where Durling gets his work done when he isn’t surrounded by stars.
