HISTORY
INSPIRATION STRIKES
In early 2018, producer & director John Bolton and his mother Pat saw "King Arthur's Night" at Vancouver's PuSh Festival and loved it. In early 2019, Pat gave John the published play, letting him fully appreciate Niall's and Marcus' writing. In late 2019, John got the original cast recording and discovered Veda's amazing songs. The more familiar John became with the text and music, the more he wanted to adapt "King Arthur's Night" as a film.
GROUND WORK
In 2020, John began meeting with Niall, Marcus and Veda, realizing any adaptation would need to include as much backstory as story. In 2021, with Canada Council of the Arts and Telefilm Canada support, John took the entire cast and small crew to Harrison Hot Springs for a two-day test shoot of interviews and musical numbers. It was the cast's first reunion in almost two years after their COVID-canceled tour, and many's first visit to Harrison Hot Springs—the actual setting of "King Arthur's Night." In early 2022, John started pitching to funders and held the cast for the first week of October 2022, their only shared availability window. In mid-2022, John married his girlfriend Sarah. On his honeymoon, he received funding from the Canada Media Fund, followed by BC Arts Council and Creative BC support. AMI and Knowledge Network joined as broadcasters, enabling him to start filming. In October 2022, John took the cast and large crew to Harrison Hot Springs for six days to shoot dramatic scenes and musical numbers. The Copper Room became Arthur's throne room, the cinderblock enclosure Morgana's castle, and the lagoon beach the final battle field.
AGAINST THE ODDS
The shoot was cross-cultural: bigger budget meeting indie filmmaking, film meeting theatre culture, neurodiverse meeting neurotypical culture. It was one of the best experiences for almost everyone in cast and crew—except John. After one day they were behind schedule, after six days over budget. In post-production, John and his editor realized they lacked enough footage for a movie. In December 2022, John pitched to more funders and held the cast for one week in May 2023, their only shared availability window. In January 2023, Sarah gave birth to their son, Silas. In April 2023, John received further funding from Telefilm Canada and Rogers Documentary Fund, enabling continued shooting. In May 2023, John took the cast and mid-sized crew back to Harrison Hot Springs for four days to shoot documentary footage, including interviews with Niall and Marcus as themselves in the resort's nicest suite, and as Arthur and Merlin on a pier over Harrison Lake. They also shot pickups: the cast checking in at the Copper Room, a musical number in the hot springs (standing in for Arthur's castle moat), and John and Sarah's son Silas (with prosthetic horns) making his debut as a "goat baby." This shoot was among the best experiences for everyone, including John. The film was back on schedule and budget, with enough footage to complete the movie.
THE FINAL CUT
From 2023 through 2025, John and his editor worked on the film, balancing "Camelot" footage from the first shoot, "Harrison" footage from the second shoot, and behind-the-scenes material to tell three stories simultaneously. They worked with AMI to create accessibility for blind and partially sighted audiences through the Lady of the Lake character, who described video, narrated the story, and interacted mysteriously with Arthur and Merlin. They also worked with Line21 Media Services for best-in-class captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. During this period, John's father Michael faced health issues while John navigated new fatherhood, making the film much more about fathers and sons than anticipated. John dedicated the film to Sarah's late mother Vivian and her sister Allison, who had Down syndrome. In May 2025, the director's cut premiered at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival. In June 2025, the broadcast version will debut on AMI-tv and AMI+.
