John Bolton

John Bolton is an award-winning filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada and the founder & chief creative officer of Opus 59 Films, a boutique storytelling enterprise focused on adapting, and making films about, extraordinary pieces of music and writing, and bringing those films to audiences that are yearning for something different. As knowledgeable about literature, music and theatre as he is about film and television, John brings a very particular erudition and sensibility to Opus 59 Films' portfolio of projects. John is best known for his feature length "musical docudrama" Aim for the Roses (2016) (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". It 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. Most recently, John wrote and directed the feature length documentary That Higher Level (2018) (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 had 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 recently produced Teresa Alfeld's feature length documentary The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical (2018) (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". John is currently producing & writing & directing THE LAKE / N'-HA-A-ITK, a music documentary about the making of, and that brings to life as a film, a unique cross-cultural collaboration between Astrolabe Musik Theatre, Turning Point Ensemble and Westbank First Nation that integrates a historic Canadian opera with contemporary syilx / Okanagan culture. John is also currently producing Teresa Alfeld's documentary DOUG AND THE SLUGS AND ME (for CBC / Documentary Channel), about the legendary 1980s Canadian party band. He is also currently executive producing Nisha Platzer's documentary BACK HOME (for Telefilm Canada). John is currently developing KING ARTHUR'S NIGHT, an adaptation of, and documentary about, the radically inclusive musical by Marcus Youssef, Niall McNeil, James Long & Veda Hille, as well the feature films SNOWMAN, a hallucinatory black comedy / psychological horror film based on the play by Greg MacArthur, and STANLEY PARK, a culinary drama based on the novel by Timothy Taylor.