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‘Room’ producer Ed Guiney on the film being the “little outsider”
14 Jan 2016 : Sean Brosnan
Ed Guiney
It’s been a busy week for ‘Room’ producer Ed Guiney of Element Pictures.

He was in the Beverly Hilton in California on Sunday night as ‘Room’ was up for three Golden Globe awards (including Best Film) where he saw lead Brie Larson pick up the Best Actress Golden Globe. Since the Globes, ‘Room’ has expanded in the US from 80 theatres to 300.

The film also hits Irish cinemas this Friday (Jan 15th) but before that he has the little matter of the Oscar nomination announcements later today where the film is being touted as a potential contender in numerous categories – including Best Film.

“To just be included in the conversation is fantastic”, said Guiney. “When we first screened the film to our financiers in May last year, we got a really special response and we knew we were on to something. But it is a bad dynamic to be thinking about awards as I think it can stop you from making the film you want to make. We are very much the little outsider – the ‘Beasts of No Nation’ or ‘Winters’ Bone’ sort of movie. It means we have to fight even harder as we are up against blockbuster movies with huge stars like ‘The Revenant’ and ‘The Martian’.”

Abrahamson and Guiney came across Donoghue’s novel in 2010– a novel that was seen by many as being ‘un-filmable’ due to the confined space it is set in as well as the whole film being told from a five year old’s perspective – his juvenile viewpoint unaware of his sinister surroundings.

“Lenny is very instinctive about things like that and he reacted very strongly to ‘Room’. He really felt there was a good film there and that was good enough for me.”

In the interim, Ed and Lenny collaborated on ‘What Richard Did’ and ‘Frank’ – two critically and commercially successful films – before the Irish Film Board and Film4 came on board with development funding. When Emma Donoghue, the Irish-born author of ‘Room’, insisted on writing the screenplay for the film adaptation – her first ever screenplay - Guiney states that there were a few “anxious moments”.

“Film is a completely different beast but all our worries went out the window as soon as we read Emma’s script. She has a great understanding of what film is and it was wonderful collaboration. She and Lenny worked so hard on the script together and I think they achieved something special.”

In terms of funding, Emma’s dual citizenship also provided Guiney with new financial avenues: “The idea of having an Irish/Canadian co-production made perfect sense. It meant we could take advantage of all Canada has to offer with their subsidy system as well as the Irish benefits too.”

With Element Pictures working with Lenny on all his films to date and with a multi-picture deal in place, just how important is the company’s relationship with the filmmaker?

“We have a really special relationship with Lenny”, said Guiney. “His work is at the heart of what we do as a company. We have great relationships with other directors such as Yorgos Lanthimos and Paddy Breathnach. It is really rewarding when you can develop long-term relationships and Lenny is an amazing filmmaker – one of the best filmmakers working anywhere today – so why on earth wouldn’t we want to work with him?”,

With Lenny and Ed working on upcoming projects such as ‘Neverhome’ and a biopic on boxer Emile Griffith – both big stories set in the US – will they be the “little outsiders” for long?

“We have had movies that have made an impact in the past but I suppose your ambition grows and you want to be a part of films that will have a bigger impact. That’s definitely something we want to think about for the future.”

Element Pictures is run by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, with offices in Dublin and London, working across production, distribution, and exhibition.

‘Room’ hits cinemas on January 15th – check out the trailer below:





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