Behind the Scenes of Shooting “Room”

Courtesy: YouTube

By Ellie Romano 2/26/2016
“Room” is not an easy movie to watch.

The film is an adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel which takes you inside the lives of a mother and child who have been held captive in a garden shed for years. It follows their fight to gain freedom and adapt to the outside world.

The line producer of the film, Hartley Gorenstein, spoke about how he was able to keep the cast and crew up-beat when dealing with such heavy subject matter.

“I brought in a physical trainer three or four times a week to work with the crew to keep them motivated. Between the morning and the afternoon we brought in coffee trucks and ice cream trucks and pizza trucks and anything we could do to try and keep people’s spirits up while we produced, because you’re in a thirty-thousand square foot stage, shooting inside a ten-by-ten room with some pretty dark subject matter, and it’s hard to keep a sunny disposition at times” he said.

Gorenstein wasn’t able to see the final cut of the movie until the film’s premiere, but he had a hunch early on that the team had created a beautiful piece of work.

“It was moving. It was great to see it– the effect it had on the audience… It played great at Telluride and then it played at Tiff and it got standing ovations and people are pretty happy with how it turned out.” He commented about his first time watching the film whole.

After viewing the final version, Gorenstein has no regrets. “You always would have done things differently, you know, hindsight offers that. But, No. I think it all and all played out really well. I think it was a great team effort.”

Gorenstein has no need for remorse since “Room” is nominated for the Best Picture academy award.
The producer is now working on his next project in Canada called “The Grizzlies.”