JOHN BOLTON - FOUNDER & CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER / PRODUCER & WRITER & DIRECTOR

John Bolton is an award-winning filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada, and the founder & chief creative officer of Opus 59 Films. As knowledgeable about music, literature and art as he is about film and television, he brings a very particular erudition and sensibility to Opus 59 Films’ portfolio of projects.

John is best known for his “musical docudrama” AIM FOR THE ROSES (for Blue Ice Docs and Monoduo Films, with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council), about Canadian musician Mark Haney and Canadian daredevil Ken Carter. Exclaim! Magazine called it “enthralling and thought provoking”; the Globe and Mail called it “audacious and outrageous”; POV Magazine called it “bizarre, ambitious and ridiculously entertaining” and “the wildest, craziest, smartest doc in years”. AIM FOR THE ROSES had its world premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto, was the opening night film at DOXA in Vancouver, played in festivals around the world, had its broadcast premiere on CBC / Documentary Channel, and was nominated for 5 Leo Awards and a Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award. It’s available on iTunes in Canada and Vimeo On Demand worldwide.

John is currently producing and directing KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT, a genre-defying music documentary inspired by a medieval musical play created by an amazing company of artists living with and without Down Syndrome, including award-winning playwrights Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef and iconic musician Veda Hille. Think “Game Of Thrones” meets “Crip Camp”, but with songs. KING ARTHUR’S NIGHT is being produced in association with Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), Knowledge Network and Level Film, with the support of the Canada Media Fund’s POV Program, Creative BC’s Reel Focus BC Production Program, the Rogers Documentary Fund and Telefilm Canada’s Theatrical Documentary Program. It was developed with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Creative BC / Rogers Group Of Funds Documentary + Factual Development Fund, and Telefilm Canada.

Most recently, John produced and directed the documentary THE LAKE / nx̌aʔx̌aʔitkʷ (for Telus Originals), an inspiring music documentary about an extraordinary friendship between two singers & teachers - Heather Pawsey of Vancouver’s Astrolabe Musik Theatre, and Delphine Derickson of Westbank First Nation - and the groundbreaking cultural collaboration in which they decolonized a historic Canadian opera by incorporating syilx / Okanagan perspectives. It had its world premiere at FIFA in Montreal. John also recently produced Teresa Alfeld’s documentary DOUG AND THE SLUGS AND ME (for CBC / Documentary Channel), about the legendary 1980s Canadian party band. It had its world premiere at DOXA in Vancouver, where it was the closing night film. John also recently executive produced Nisha Platzer’s documentary BACK HOME (for Telefilm Canada), which was recently selected for RIDM’s Docs-In-Progress Canadian Showcase at the Marché du Film of the Festival de Cannes.

John previously wrote and directed the documentary THAT HIGHER LEVEL (for the National Film Board of Canada), about the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, which had its world premiere at the Victoria Film Festival, and its broadcast / streaming premiere on CBC Gem. The Vancouver Observer called it “inspiring and thrilling” and Viva Scene called it “a soulful endeavour”. John also previously produced Teresa Alfeld’s documentary THE RANKIN FILE: LEGACY OF A RADICAL (with the support of the British Columbia Arts Council), about the colourful and sometimes controversial life of Vancouver lawyer, city councillor and socialist icon Harry Rankin, which was the opening night film at DOXA in Vancouver, and had its broadcast / streaming premiere in Canada on Knowledge Network, and in the USA on Means TV. The Commentary called it “a fascinating film and marvelous chronicle of Vancouver” and the Georgia Straight called it “memorable and nuanced”.

During the pandemic, John produced and directed live streams for such classical music ensembles as the Allegra Chamber Orchestra (FESTIVELLE), Little Chamber Music (HUMAN SHADOW ETCHED IN STONE) and the Vancouver Island Symphony (THE PICTURES PROJECT).