#CSA: JACOB TREMBLAY, EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI, EUGENE LEVY, CATHERINE O’HARA, LYRIQ BENT, ADAM BEACH + MORE STARS IN BEVERLY HILLS FOR “AN EVENING WITH CANADA’S STARS”

Now in its third thriving year, AN EVENING WITH CANADA’S STARS was held last night at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.  Leading into the Academy Awards and Canadian Screen Week, the Gala honours Canadian accomplishments in Cinema during Awards Season and if any year, this was the year to celebrate. The Gala is brought to us by Telefilm Canada, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles.

Canada notched over 20 nominations at the Academy Awards this year and one Technical Achievement Award! This also marks the first time ever Canada has had two Films in the running for Best Picture, with Canadian Co-Productions ROOM and BROOKLYN both being nominated.

It was an at-capacity crowd as Canadian talent and notables filled the venue.  Being honoured with the Academy‘s Legacy Award are two iconic Canadian screen veterans, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, whom after making us laugh many years on SCTV, still continue to do so on CBC Series, Schitt’s Creek.  Both walked the Carpet tonight with their loved ones before taking the stage to accept their honours.

The fashion was bold and elegant on the Red Carpet with presenter Emmanuelle Chriqui in a gorgeous red and white floral print dress making a subtle Canadian statement.  Amanda Brugel was a vision in wavy white, reminding us again what a triumph she was in ROOM as a quick thinking police officer who helps save the day.  Laura Vandervoort simply never disappoints and chose a fashion-forward pink lace number. Katie Boland was a stunner in a magenta dress, looking classic and chic. Missy Peregrym continues to rock our world with her amazing choices including a dyed pixie cut and short black dress shirt-like number.  Academy Award-nominated Shoreh Aghdashloo was effortlessly chic in simple, flattering red. Stealing the entire show though was dapper Jacob Tremblay, star of ROOM in a perfectly-tailored and patriotic red suit which had us both jealous and in “awww”.  Did we mention his swoon-worthy police detective dad Jason was there too? Effortlessly cool in a non-stagedad way.

Why don’t you be the judge of that?  Let’s gawk at some of that Canadian beauty which the World can’t seem to get enough of:

Presenters Lyriq Bent + Emmanuelle Chriqui

Emmanuelle Chriqui

Lyriq Bent

Legacy Award honourees Catherine O’Hara + Eugene Levy

Catherine O’Hara + Guest

Eugene Levy

Jacob Tremblay + Amanda Brugel

Adam Beach

Missy Peregrym

Amanda Brugel

Toronto Mayor John Tory + Guests

Sarah Blackwood of Walk Off the Earth

David Sutcliffe

Dustin Milligan

George Stroumboulopoulous with Air Canada‘s Bambina Marcello + Robert Trudeau

Katie Boland

Meaghan Rath

Olivia Cheng

Martin Katz, Academy Chair

Aaron Poole

Sophie Tweed-Simmons

Laura Vandervoort

Ben Mulroney

Dan Levy

Stephan Moccio (co-wrote “Earned It” by The Weeknd for Fifty Shades of Grey)

Shoreh Aghdashloo

Co-Presenter  (and Canadian Screen Award Nominee) Lyriq Bent sums-up the spirit of An Evening with Canada’s Stars best by telling the room “We’ve got to show the world what we’re all about because that’s what it takes to be great. We need to understand ourselves before we need others to understand us.”. After he and Chriqui called to stage all Canadian Academy Award Nominees this year, last but not least was the brilliant young star of ROOM himself, Tremblay. “I need you all to understand – this is the future generation. This is why when we see talent, we need to embrace talent, not just tell him how great he is, but to show this young man what it is to be a good man. That’s our responsibility in this industry.”.

Suicide Squad star Adam Beach, who also presented, had a two or thing to say about Tremblay too!

See the Video:

So everybody was trying to crash this Party!

Canadian Screen Week runs Monday, March 7 through Sunday, March 13, 2016, the night of the Canadian Screen Awards.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

#CDNSCREEN16: “ROOM” AND “SCHITT’S CREEK” LEAD NOMINEES AT 2016 CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS

It’s that time of the year again! Awards Season wouldn’t be complete without the Canadian Screen Awards, set to take place Sunday, March 13, 2016 at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts for a fourth year. The Gala to be hosted by comedian Norm MacDonald, recognizes  the finest accomplishments in Canadian Film, Digital Media and Television, revealing its nominees this morning at TIFF Bell Lightbox with the help of Actors Aislinn Paul (Degrassi, Heroes Reborn) and Lyriq Bent (The Book of Negroes).  The Duo were revealed as nominees too.

Leading the Film nominees this year is Academy Award Best Picture-nominated ROOM with eleven nods including Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Art Direction, Cinematography, Direction, Editing, Makeup, Music, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Actor in a Leading Role (Jacob Tremblay), Actress in a Leading Role (Brie Larson) and Actress in a Supporting Role (Joan Allen). Both Larson and nine-year-old Tremblay are fresh off Critics’ Choice Awards this past weekend for their work in the Toronto-made Film.

Following closely behind were HYENA ROAD, which despite a whopping eight nominations didn’t receive a Best Motion Picture nomination, and French-language Film OUR LOVED ONES with seven nominations.

SCHITT’S CREEK leads Television category nominees with 14 nominations, plus one in the Digital Media division, including Best Comedy Series, Best Direction in a Comedy Series (twice), Best Photography in a Comedy Series, Best Editing in a Comedy Series, Best Writing in a Comedy Series (twice), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Chris Elliott) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Annie Murphy, Catherine O’Hara). Interestingly, father-son duo Eugene and Daniel Levy are going head-to-head in this category.

CSAs favourite Orphan Black follows closely behind in second with 13 nominations.  Tied with 12 nominations apiece were Mr. D and 19-2.

A star-studded list of nominees were announced with the likes of Rossif Sutherland, Christopher Plummer, Jared Keeso, Tatiana Maslany, Missy Peregrym, Megan Follows and several more. We wait to see the list of talent to grace the Red Carpet in March!

Earlier at the Press Conference, the new Discovery Award was presented to Director Yosef Baraki and Producers Andrew Korogyi and Asef Baraki for their Afghanistan-filmed Feature, MINA WALKING.  The Award is for emerging Filmmakers working with a budget of under $250k.

Once again this year, Fans will get a chance to connect with their favourite Canadian stars  Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Eaton Centre in the Canadian Screen Awards Fanzone.  Fans also will be given a chance to win a spot in the Red Carpet section at the Sony Centre on the day of the Awards and even have a chance to vote for their favourite Canadian star in the Fan’s Choice Award voting.  Details can be found here.

The 2016 Canadian Screen Awards air 8 PM on CBC Sunday, March 13, 2016.  See the full list of Nominees here.

 

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER TO WIN ADVANCE PASSES TO SEE “ROOM”

Elevation Pictures + Mr. Will are thrilled to take Readers across Canada to see TIFF ’15 People’s Choice Award winner, ROOM.

We saw it and we were enthralled. We can’t wait for you to discover it and tell all your friends about it.

The Screenings take place either Wednesday, October 21, 2015 or Thursday, October 22, 2015 in Toronto and Wednesday, October 28, 2015 in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax and Victoria.

Synopsis:
Jack (Jacob Tremblay), five, was born in captivity. The shed in which he and his Ma (Brie Larson) are confined is all he knows. His Ma was abducted when she was 17 and their only visitor is his father and her kidnapper, Old Nick (Sean Bridgers).

When Jack and his Ma finally escape, he is both awestruck and terrified by the outside world. His Ma, on the other hand, must face the long and difficult process of recovery after being imprisoned for so long.

ROOM stars Brie Larson, Joan Allen, William H. Macy and introducing Jacob Tremblay!  Lenny Abrahamson directs, with a script written by Emma Donoghue, who also wrote the novel on which the Film is based.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win simply click “like” on this post at Mr. Will on Facebook and indicate your city.  Click share from there for an extra chance or Tweet the below:

http://www.mrwillwong.com/room @mrwillw wants us to #win Advance Passes to see #ROOMTheMovie! 

G’luck Willionaire$!

Elevation Pictures release ROOM in Toronto on Friday, October 23, 2015 and across Canada on Friday, October 30, 2015.

Mr. Will + The Cast of ROOM

Congrats to @elevation_pics, @brielarson, @jacobtremblay and the team behind #RoomTheMovie on their #TIFF15 People’s Choice win. Well deserved. We’re crazy about it!

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:59pm PDT

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Elevation Pictures)

#TIFF15: DAY 6 SPOTTINGS – BRIE LARSON, SHIA LABEOUF, JOAN ALLEN, DAVID THEWLIS, TOM NOONAN + JACOB TREMBLAY

TIFF ’15 is starting to wind its way down and although the star power might not be where it was this past weekend, there still is plenty to be excited about.  Today we caught-up with the casts of Man Down, Room and Anomalisa.

David Thewlis. The English actor gained much popularity with a younger generation for his work on the Harry Potter franchise as Remus Lupin. He is at TIFF ’15 with Anomalisa, a stop-motion animated feature directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. The Film won a Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival recently.

With the incredible #DavidThewlis, at #TIFF15 with #Anomalisa. #TIFF40 #TIFF #TorontoFilmFestival

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 1:17pm PDT

Tom Noonan. The tall American actor also is here for Anomalisa, known best for his work in  Manhunter and Heat.

With #TomNoonan, at #TIFF15 with #Anomalisa. #TIFF40 #TIFF #TorontoFilmFestival

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 1:17pm PDT

Shia LaBeouf.  The controversial actor was a big hit with fans at TIFF ’15, generously stopping to greet fans at the Red Carpet of his Film Man Down, at Roy Thomson Hall.

#ShiaLaBeouf at #TIFF15 for #ManDown. #TIFF40 #TorontoFilmFestival #TIFF #NikonD3300

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:27pm PDT

Jacob Tremblay.  This young Canadian talent is mesmerizing in Room, which debuted to phenomenal response this evening at Princess of Wales Theatre.

This boy is a remarkable actor. Thanks for the photo @iamjaketremblay! #RoomTheMovie #TIFF40 #TIFF15 #TorontoFilmFestival #TIFF #JacobTremblay #NikonD3300

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:33pm PDT

Joan Allen. The TONY-winning, Oscar-nominated actress is here also for Room, gracious enough to stop for fans at the Red Carpet.

With the lovely #JoanAllen, at #TIFF15 with #RoomTheMovie. #TIFF40 #TIFF #TorontoFilmFestival #NikonD3300

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:29pm PDT

Brie Larson.  This talented young actress this past weekend at TIFF ’15 was honoured with the IMDB Star Meter Award, normally given to an actor who shows a lot of promise and buzz. She is garnering tons of acclaim for her breakout role in Room.  We loved her Red Carpet look tonight and are even thrilled after many tries, finally getting that Selfie moment with her!

My perfect photo of @brielarson at #THEROOMMOVIE’s #TIFF15 Premiere. #TIFF40 #TIFF #TorontoFilmFestival #BrieLarson #NikonD3300

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:36pm PDT

My #TIFF15 made. The one star I absolutely had to get a Selfie with, #BrieLarson. Please go see #RoomTheMovie. Riveting. Heartbreaking. Joyous. Emotional. Our faces touched and she gave me a genuine moment of thanks. I am willing to put my last dollar that this will be a force Awards season. #TIFF40 #TIFF #TorontoFilmFestival

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong (@mrwillwong) on Sep 15, 2015 at 3:39pm PDT

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)