John Spotton C.S.C. (January 1, 1927 – March 3, 1991) was a Canadian filmmaker with the National Film Board of Canada.
A versatile artist who worked as a director, producer, cinematographer and editor, Spotton was best known for his role in developing the Direct Cinema genre of documentary and in the application of those techniques in narrative fiction films, in particular Nobody Waved Good-bye (1964), in which he served as cinematographer and editor.
An early member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), Spotton joined the NFB in 1949 after briefly working as an assistant cameraman with Shelly Films in Toronto, and remained there until his death, except for a period from 1970 to 1972 when he worked with Potterton Productions. He was executive producer of the NFB's Ontario Centre from 1982 to 1988.
Until it closed in 2002, The NFB's theatre in Toronto was named The John Spotton Theatre. Until 2017, the Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Short Film was the 'NFB John Spotton Award'.
Personal life and death Spotton drowned at the age of 64 while on vacation in Cuba. He was survived by his wife Doris.
Filmography For the National Film Board of Canada
Sing with the Commodores - 3 short films, Roger Blais & Douglas Tunstell 1951 - cinematographer Fighting Forest Fires with Hand Tools - training film, Lawrence Cherry 1951 - cinematographer Trade Fair - documentary short, Robert Anderson 1952 - cinematographer The Puppeteers - documentary short, Jacques Giraldeau 1952 - cinematographer Epidemic Foot and Mouth Disease: Saskatchewan - documentary short, Larry Gosnell 1952 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 39 - documentary short, Gordon Burwash 1952 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 44 - documentary short, David Bairstow 1952 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 49 - documentary short, David Bairstow 1952 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 50 - documentary short, David Bairstow 1953 - cinematographer Pole Barns and Milking Parlours - documentary short, Larry Gosnell 1953 - cinematographer The World at Your Feet - documentary short, Larry Gosnell 1953 - cinematographer The Story of Peter and the Potter - short film, Donald Peters 1953 - cinematographer Surface Silos - documentary short, Larry Gosnell 1953 - cinematographer Security Depends on You - training film, Julian Biggs 1953 - cinematographer Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps: Field Operations - training film, Lawrence Cherry 1953 - cinematographer Forage Harvesting - documentary short, Larry Gosnell 1953 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 67 - documentary short, Fernand Ménard & Robert Anderson 1954 - cinematographer Salt Cod - documentary short, Allan Wargon 1954 - cinematographer College in the Wilds - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - cinematographer Frontier College - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: The Doll Factory - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Deep Sleep - documentary short, Jack Olsen, 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Auto Production - documentary short, Jack Olsen 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Aviation Medicine - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Food and Drug Patrol - documentary short, Allen Stark 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Hidden Power - documentary short, John Feeney 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Javanese Dancing - documentary short, Bernard Devlin 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: The Magic Men - documentary short, Jack Olen 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Story of a Newspaper - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Traffic Cop - documentary short, Jack Olsen 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Food Facts - documentary short, John Feeney 1954 - cinematographer On the Spot: Alcoholism - documentary short, Don Haldane 1955 - cinematographer Grain Handling in Canada - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1955 - cinematographer Leaving It to the Experts - documentary short, Gudrun Parker 1955 - cinematographer Community Responsibilities - documentary short, Gudrun Parker 1955 - cinematographer Eye Witness No. 84 - documentary short, Hector Lemieux & Tim Wilson 1956 - cinematographer Designed for Living - documentary short, Jean Palardy 1956 - cinematographer Aural Null - documentary short, Michael Birch 1957 - cinematographer The Jet Beacon Let-Down - documentary short, Michael Birch & René Jodoin 1957 - cinematographer The Standard Range Approach - training film, Michael Birch & René Jodoin 1957 - cinematographer Battalion Intelligence Section - documentary short, Walford Hewitson 1957 - cinematographer Canadian Profile - documentary, Allan Wargon 1957 - cinematographer Feathers in the Wind - documentary short, Raymond Garceau 1957 - cinematographer Choosing a Leader - short film, Julia Murphy 1957 - cinematographer Being Different - short film, Julia Murphy 1957 - cinematographer A Day in June - documentary short, Louis Portugais 1958 - cinematographer Pilgrimage - documentary short, Candid Eye series, Terence Macartney-Filgate 1958 - co-producer with Roman Kroitor and Wolf Koenig The Skilled Worker - short film, Morten Parker 1958 - cinematographer The General Foreman - short film, Morten Parker 1958 - cinematographer The Man on the Assembly Line - short film, Morten Parker 1958 - cinematographer The Hands That Heal - documentary short, Gordon Sparling 1958 - cinematographer Railroaders - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1958 - cinematographer Treasure of the Forest - documentary short, Roger Blais 1958 - cinematographer Log Drive - documentary short, Perspective series, Raymond Garceau 1958 - cinematographer River of Wood - documentary short, Raymond Garceau 1958 - cinematographer City Out of Time - documentary short, Colin Low 1959 - editor The Back-Breaking Leaf - documentary short, Terence Macartney-Filgate 1959 - editor Fishermen - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1959 - cinematographer The St. Lawrence Seaway - documentary short, John Howe 1959 - cinematographer I Was a Ninety-Pound Weakling - documentary short, Wolf Koenig & Georges Dufaux 1960 - editor Railroaders (Revised) - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1960 - cinematographer Circle of the Sun - documentary short, Colin Low 1960 - cinematographer The Days of Whisky Gap - documentary short, Colin Low 1961 - editor and cinematographer Lonely Boy - documentary short, Wolf Koenig & Roman Kroitor 1962 - editor Runner - documentary short, Don Owen 1962 - cinematographer Nobody Waved Good-bye - feature, Don Owen 1964 - editor and cinematographer Rivera - documentary, The American Worker series (non-NFB), Morten Parker 1964 The Hutterites - documentary short, Colin Low 1964 - editor and cinematographer The Edge of the Barrens - documentary short, Dalton Muir 1964 - editor Legault's Place - documentary short, Suzanne Angel 1965 - cinematographer Two Men of Montreal - documentary, Suzanne Angel, Donald Brittain & Don Owen 1965 - cinematographer Buster Keaton Rides Again - documentary, 1965 - editor, cinematographer, director Memorandum - documentary 1965 - editor, cinematographer and, with Donald Brittain, director Sanchez - documentary, The American Worker series (non-NFB), Morten Parker 1965 Ybarra - documentary, The American Worker series (non-NFB), Morten Parker 1966 Never a Backward Step - documentary 1966 - with Donald Brittain & Arthur Hammond, director The Forest - documentary short, 1966 - editor and director The White Ship - documentary short, Hector Lemieux 1966 - editor The Long Haul Men - documentary short, Michael Rubbo 1966 - editor High Steel - documentary short, Don Owen 1966 - cinematographer After Eve - documentary short, Michael J.F. Scott 1967 - editor This Land - documentary short, Arthur Hammond 1968 - editor Les voitures d'eau (The River Schooners) – feature, Pierre Perrault 1968 – co-editor with Guy L. Coté Activator One - documentary 1969 - director Of Many People - documentary short, Stanley Jackson 1970 - editor and co-producer with Robert Verrall Pillar of Wisdom - documentary short, Josef Reeve 1970 - cinematographer Kainai - documentary short, Don Owen 1973 - cinematographer Circus World - documentary short, Roman Kroitor 1974 - cinematographer Have I Ever Lied to You Before? - documentary 1976 - director Eaton’s Centre - televisit 1977 - producer and director A Pinto for the Prince - documentary short 1979 - with Colin Low, director Meet the Martins - documentary short, William Pettigrew 1979 - co-producer with William Pettigrew Viking Visitors to North America - documentary short, Tony Ianzelo & Anthony Kent 1979 - producer Canada Vignettes: The Music Makers, Malca Gillson 1979 - producer Atmos - documentary short, Colin Low 1980 - co-producer with Michael Sullivan Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community - documentary, Jennifer Hodge de Silva & Roger McTair 1983 - executive producer Prisoners of Debt: Inside the Global Banking Crisis - documentary, Robert Collison & Peter Raymont 1983 - executive producer Thanks for the Ride - short film, John Kent Harrison 1983 - executive producer Pitchmen - documentary, Barry Greenwald 1985 - executive producer Final Offer - documentary, Sturla Gunnarsson & Robert Collison 1985 - executive producer Class of Promise - documentary, Barbara Sears 1985 - executive producer Dad's House, Mom's House - documentary, Lyn Wright 1985 - executive producer The Hospital - short film, Murray Battle 1985 - executive producer Left Out - short film, Jim Purdy 1985 - executive producer The Umpire - short film, Paul Shapiro 1985 - executive producer Where's Pete? - short film, Jim Purdy, 1986 - executive producer Mr. Nobody - documentary short, Lyn Wright 1987 - executive producer Hayley's Home Movie - short film, Gail Singer 1987 - executive producer No Way! Not Me - documentary short, Ariadna Ochrymovych 1987 - executive producer For Richer, For Poorer - short film, Ariadna Ochrymovych 1988 - executive producer A House Divided: Caregiver Stress and Elder Abuse - documentary short, Lyn Wright 1988 - executive producer Peep and the Big Wide World - cartoons, Kaj Pindal 1988 - executive producer Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left, Part 1 - International Background, Canadian Roots - documentary, Arthur Hammond 1989 - executive producer Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left, Part 2 - Born of Hard Times - documentary, Arthur Hammond 1989 - executive producer Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left, Part 3 - Falling Apart and Getting Together - documentary, Arthur Hammond 1989 - executive producer Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left, Part 4 - New Party, Old Problems - documentary, Arthur Hammond 1989 - executive producer Media and Society: Advertising and Consumerism - documentary, David Adkin 1989 - producer Media and Society: Cultural Sovereignty/Shaping Information - documentary, David Adkin 1989 - producer Media and Society: Images of Women - documentary, David Adkin 1989 - producer Transplant, the Breath of Life - documentary, Elias Petras 1990 - co-producer with Elias Petras Constructing Reality: Exploring Media Issues in Documentary - What Is a Documentary? Ways of Storytelling - documentary, David Adkin 1993 - co-producer with Michael Allder Constructing Reality: Exploring Media Issues in Documentary - Shaping Reality - documentary, David Adkin 1993 - co-producer with Michael Allder Constructing Reality: Exploring Media Issues in Documentary - The Politics of Truth - documentary, David Adkin 1993 - co-producer with Michael Allder Constructing Reality: Exploring Media Issues in Documentary - The Candid Eye? - documentary, David Adkin 1993 - co-producer with Michael Allder Constructing Reality: Exploring Media Issues in Documentary - Voices of Experience, Voices for Change Part 1 - documentary, David Adkin 1993 - co-producer with Michael Allder