Room Full of Spoons

Room Full of Spoons is a 2016 Canadian documentary film directed by Rick Harper about the 2003 cult film The Room.

Room Full of Spoons
Film poster
Directed byRick Harper[1]
Written byRick Harper
Starring
Narrated byRick Harper
CinematographyMartin Racicot
Edited byFernando Ferero
Music byMladen Milicevic
Production
companies
RockHaven Pictures
Parktown Studios
Distributed byRockHaven Pictures
Release date
  • April 2016 (2016-04)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

Rick Harper, "Canadian documentary maker and The Room superfan",[2] a longtime associate of Tommy Wiseau, director of the infamous 2003 film The Room, explores the story behind the film's troubled production and researches Wiseau's mysterious background, concluding that he is Polish and originally from the city of Poznań.[3]

Cast

Production

Ottawa filmmaker Rick Harper, with Fernando Forero, Martin Racicot and Richard Towns, formed Rockhaven Pictures.[4]

Release

On February 10, 2016, Rick Harper introduced[5] Room Full of Spoons at University of Sheffield Students' Union, with questions and answers with Ryan Finnigan, author of The Room: The Definitive Guide.[6]

After a brief theatrical run in April 2016, the documentary was quickly pulled when independent theaters reported receiving legal notices of copyright infringement from Tommy Wiseau, the director, writer, producer, and star of The Room.[7] Another attempt to release the film in 2017 to capitalize on the film The Disaster Artist was stymied by Wiseau, who filed an injunction in Ontario courts, preventing a DVD release of the film and setting up a lengthy legal battle. After a final trial in January 2020, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice judge Paul Schabas ruled in favour of the makers of Room Full of Spoons, therefore allowing the film to be marketed and released. He ordered Wiseau to pay the filmmakers US$550,000[8] in compensatory damages, CDN$200,000 in punitive damages and defendants' court costs.[9][10][11][12][13]

Wiseau Studio appealed the Superior Court of Ontario's April 2020 Judgement, and on July 23, 2021, Wiseau's appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal for Ontario.[14]

On January 15, 2021, in Wiseau Studio, LLC v. Harper, 2021 ONCA 31, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, for the first time, an Ontario court ordered security for a trial judgment pending appeal.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Ontario judge lifts injunction on documentary about 'abysmal' cult film The Room". As It Happens. CBC Radio. November 9, 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  2. Ritman, Alex (3 July 2017). "'The Room' Doc Maker on Falling Out With Tommy Wiseau: "The Most Interesting Person After Michael Jackson"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  3. Van Lullng, Todd (January 29, 2016). "The Irresistible Mystery Of Tommy Wiseau". Huffington Post. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  4. Whittier, Keith (25 April 2016). "Ottawa Filmmaker Rick Harper's Time in The Room". Ottawa Life Magazine. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. "Adventures in Amateur Filmmaking: Mistakes and Missed Takes". Now Then Sheffield. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  6. Finnigan, Ryan (2014). The Room: The Definitive Guide. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-4803-9096-6.
  7. Drees, Rich (17 September 2016). "Why Does THE ROOM's Tommy Wiseau Not Want You To See This Documentary?". filmbuffonline.com. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  8. Maddaus, Gene (4 May 2020). "Tommy Wiseau Ordered to Pay $700k to 'The Room' Documentary Makers". Variety. Retrieved 14 August 2023. Schabas ordered Wiseau to pay $550,000 to the documentary makers — Richard Harper, Fernando Forero McGrath, Mark Racicot and Richard Towns — in lost revenue due to the thwarted release. He also awarded an extra 200,000 Canadian dollars (about $140,000 U.S.) in punitive damages, citing Wiseau's "oppressive and outrageous" conduct toward the documentary makers. Schabas found that Wiseau had engaged in bad faith negotiations in an effort to forestall the release of the documentary. "In doing so, the plaintiffs were concerned with protecting and maximizing the value of 'The Disaster Artist,' in which the plaintiffs have a financial interest," the judge ruled
  10. Gene Maddaus (May 4, 2020). "Tommy Wiseau Ordered to Pay $700k to 'The Room' Documentary Makers". Variety. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  11. Sam Barsanti (May 4, 2020). "Tommy Wiseau ordered to pay $700,000 for trying to shut down The Room documentary". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. Brock Thiessen (May 4, 2020). "Tommy Wiseau Ordered to Pay Nearly $1 Million to Canadian Documentary Filmmakers". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  13. Vorel, Jim (May 5, 2020). "Tommy Wiseau Loses $700,000 Lawsuit Related to The Room Documentary Room Full of Spoons". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  14. "Wiseau Studio, LLC v. Harper, 2021 ONCA 532". ontariocourts.ca. 2021-07-23. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  15. Goldenberg, Adam; Martini, Kate (22 January 2021). "The Court of Appeal for Ontario orders security for judgment for the first time". McCarthy Tétrault. Retrieved 14 August 2023.

Further reading
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