Room at the Top

(March 15, 2016 – Toronto, ON) – Yesterday, the hit co-production Room reached another plateau when Telefilm Canada presented its Golden Box Office Award. The Golden Box Office Award recognizes the Canadian director(s) and screenwriter(s) of the Canadian or majority Canadian coproduction English-language feature film that performed exceptionally well at the box office in the previous calendar year, earning at least $1 million. This is the 6th Golden Box Office Award handed out by Telefilm.

The award comes with a cash prize of $40,000, which is usually shared by the film’s director(s) and screenwriter(s). Because Room’s director, Lenny Abrahamson, is not Canadian, only screenwriter Emma Donoghue received the cash prize this year.

“We are delighted to pay tribute to Emma Donoghue, who has achieved international renown,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “This talented novelist and screenwriter was the creative force behind a movie that, in addition to its stellar box-office performance, has won many awards. Normally, awards that recognize box-office performance are given to distributors or producers. We believe, at Telefilm, that it’s essential to recognize the director and writers who bring our stories to life.”

Michel Pradier, Director, Project Financing, at Telefilm, added: “I would like to thank Ms. Donoghue for this moving story, which struck a deep chord with audiences. I would also like to highlight the fact that this film would not have

turned out the way it did without the incredible support it received from the two coproducing countries and from its Canadian producer, No Trace Camping. Room definitely shows what can be achieved through coproduction, an approach to film production that we should pursue more often.”

Emma Donoghue, for her part, added that “shooting Room in Toronto was delightful from beginning to end. The movie involved so many talented Canadians, and I accept this award on their behalf. I will be donating the cash prize to the ImagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, a Toronto event that offers an international showcase for Aboriginal film, video, radio and new media.”

Room was directed by Lenny Abrahamson and coproduced by David Gross (No Trace Camping), and is distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures. It stars Jacob Tremblay and Brie Larson, winner of this year’s Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress.

The 2016 Guichet d’or, the French-language counterpart to the Golden Box Office Award, will be handed out in Montreal on March 22 to the directors and writers of the movie La Guerre des Tuques en 3D .

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