The Roger Durling era at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival — 16 years, with ink now drying on his contract to stay for another five ​— ​has started a new chapter. The modern festival’s origin story, in which Durling and company rescheduled the event to coincide with the Academy Awards nominations, thus tapping into the flood of marketing muscle and cinematic talent chasing the Oscars, definitely still applies, but it’s become backstory, a legend about how our annual screen bonanza acquired its considerable mojo. What’s happening with the organization now may be more subtle, but it is just as revolutionary. What was once a steady build-up of anticipation that found release for 11 days in January is now a full-blown, year-round proposition. As of 2020, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival never really stops.

Beginning in the 2000s, an astute link between its visible role in the Oscars race and an increasingly prestigious international program of independent films made the SBIFF prosperous. High-end sponsors such as this year’s crop, which includes Patagonia, UGG, Sephora, Netflix, and Belvedere Vodka, flocked to the lounges at the Arlington and the Lobero, as they continue to do, eager to tap into the buzz that crackles around red carpet tributes and afterparties for Oscar-nominated stars like Brad Pitt and Scarlett Johansson. The price of a top-tier, all-access Concierge Pass eventually hit an eye-watering five grand. Clearly, considerable resources were becoming available, but where would it all go?

The short and glorious answer is into film education. As Durling told me in December, “Everything we do now is with an educational mission, even the festival.” As of 2020, the SBIFF has developed a strikingly large repertoire of 14 distinct educational programs that, taken together, thoroughly transcend the expectations ordinarily associated with outreach. It’s not a film school ​— ​yet ​— ​but things are getting awfully close. Call it the University of Durling; wherever Roger goes, educational programs are sure to follow. It’s a passion for him, and it’s also a privilege for the organization, one that only became possible through increased continuity of employment for the staff.