Spotton, John

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 briefly working as a cameraman for a private company, joined the NFB in 1949 and worked there for the rest of his life, with the exception of a three-film stint with Parker Film Associates, and a two-year period in the 1970s when he worked with Potterton Productions. He was executive director of the NFB's Ontario Centre from 1982 until 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'.