''Room Full of Spoons'' is a 2016 Canadian

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Rick Harper about the 2003 cult film ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American independent romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Tommy Wiseau, who also stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. Set in San Francisco, the film is centered around a ...

''.

Synopsis

Rick Harper, "Canadian documentary maker and ''The Room'' superfan", a longtime associate of

Tommy Wiseau Thomas Pierre Wiseau (born October 3, 1955) ( or ; born Tomasz Wieczorkiewicz ) is a Polish Americans, Polish-American actor and filmmaker. He is best-known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film ''The Room'', which ...

, 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 Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Cast

Production

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

Release

On February 10, 2016, Rick Harper introduced ''Room Full of Spoons'' at

University of Sheffield Students' Union Sheffield Students' Union, officially known as the University of Sheffield Students' Union, is the representative body of students at the University of Sheffield. It is run by a team of thirteen elected officers (7 full-time officers and 6 ...

, with questions and answers with Ryan Finnigan, author of ''The Room: The Definitive Guide''.

Legal issues

After a brief theatrical run in April 2016, the documentary was quickly pulled when independent theaters reported receiving legal notices of copyright infringement from

, the director, writer, producer, and star of ''The Room''. Another attempt to release the film in 2017 to capitalize on the film ''

The Disaster Artist ''The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made'' is a 2013 non-fiction book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell, in which the former details the troubled development and production of the panned 2003 cult ...

'' was stymied by Wiseau, who filed an injunction in Ontario courts, preventing a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release of the film and setting up a lengthy legal battle. After a final trial in January 2020, the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

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 in

compensatory damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

, in

punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...

, and defendants' court costs. 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 The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...

. 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.

References

External links

* * *
Leonard J. French, Esq.
{{Authority control 2010s Canadian films 2010s English-language films Canadian documentary films Documentary films about films English-language Canadian films Works by Tommy Wiseau English-language documentary films