Join Canadian Artist & Author, Margaret Lindsay Holton, for Lecture on 'The Act & Art of Writing' & BOOK LAUNCH of her new novel, TRILLIUM, at the Art Gallery of Hamilton

Book Cover  - TRILLIUM by M.L.Holton

' The Act & Art of Writing '

- With Special Guest, M.L.Holton

 (Part of the WAAH SPEAKER'S SERIES)

Award-winning Canadian author and artist, Margaret Lindsay Holton, is releasing her third novel - TRILLIUM. 

"Spanning a period of 250 years, three distinctly different young men arrive and strive within the burgeoning wine-making region of Niagara. Now available in e-book or paperback, this explosive generational family saga explores a number of on-going issues: land ownership, the often hidden origins of male toxicity, the development of female empowerment and the very real impact of cold hard cash."

Find out more about her epic new work  - TRILLIUM  - via the Facebook fanpage or follow along on Twitter - (hashtag: #landlustloot)

Join Margaret Lindsay Holton for an engaging lecture on 'The Act & Art of Writing'. Afterwards, enjoy a  FREE Screening of the critically acclaimed 25 minute WW1 Canadian film -  The Frozen Goose - written, directed and  produced by her in 2016.

M.L.Holton  is delighted to be an Invited Speaker in the popular 'Speakers Series' hosted by the Womens' Art Association of Hamilton. A book signing will occur at the end of this unique BOOK LAUNCH Event.

Art Gallery of Hamilton

123 King Street - Downtown Hamilton 

 Thursday - March 21st, 1-3pm

Price:  Non-members - $5 at the door. 

 (Please Note: Limited Seating / First Come, First Served)

Location Shot for The Frozen Goose, (2015) by M.L.Holton

UPDATE: Wednesday, March 20th, 2019 -

It is with deep regret, due to circumstances beyond my control, that I must announce that the TRILLIUM book launch at the Art Gallery of Hamilton has been CANCELLED.**

My intended lecture about 'The Act & Art of Writing' can be found here > https://soundcloud.com/canadada/the-act-art-of-writing-by-mlholton/s-d2kGp

TRILLIUM, my third novel, released in January 2019 in e-book or paperback, can be found on Amazon.CA >https://amzn.to/2q0iEeL 

Alternate e-book formats - (Kobo, Indigo, Apple etc) - are here:  https://books2read.com/TRILLIUM

(The FROZEN GOOSE film & trailer, referenced in the lecture, can be seen here > https://thefrozengoose.vhx.tv/)

Margaret Lindsay Holton

Golden Horseshoe Artist & Author

Valentine's Day 2018 - from M.L.Holton

'Art Attack by M.L.Holton

There is so much hate and hurt in the world now - people lashing out, crying, and dying from injustice and justice. As an artist, in this year, 2018, and on this day, I consider it my on-going ROLE to declare that I too WITNESS, via my words and art works, that which defines, aligns and alienates us, humanity, from each other, and from our collective home, Mother Earth.

Today, I was honored to have excerpts from my album, Canadada: Take Two, included in this timely & insightful Australian podcast by DJ Lapkat. She has mindfully assembled a medley of spoken word and music that ADDRESSES us, humanity. 

Please, listen in - give it the due it deserves. Thank you.

La Danza Poetica - #60. Canada:Untold Stories

Via DJ Lapkat: 'We love you, Canada. Not only is your Minister for Transport an astronaut, your storytellers, poets, musicians and artists are gravity-defyingly-eloquent. La Danza Poetica #60 is an extended show, because I was enjoying myself so much, I could not stop. Moving from high-energy, activist hip hop and electronic dance music, into an extended ambient / spoken word mix with no interruption from me ... this month I bring you some stories, told in a time of reckoning, rooted in cultural expression, social consciousness, and Mother Earth connection.

 

Tracklist

Ziibiwan – Fast Asleep (I Will)
M.L.Holton – I care 4 U caribou (SPOKEN)
Brandon Wint – Brighter
Ziibiwan – Winter's Child feat. Wellspoke
Jb the First Lady – OOTG
Taboo / Mag 7 – Stand Up / Stand N Rock #NoDAPL
Eivør Pálsdóttir – Trollabundin (Rise Ashen Rub)
M.L.Holton – The Inuit in me Speaks to the White (MUSIC)
M.L.Holton – The Inuit in me Speaks to the White (SPOKEN)
Mob Bounce – Vision Quest
Wellspoke – facts
Ziibiwan – Manitou
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Caribou Ghosts and Untold Stories
Quantum Tangle – Ikersuaq
Shane Koyczan – Inconvenient Skin feat. Tanya Tagaq & Kym Gouchie
Brandon Wint – My Body is Heavy with Histories
Francois Couture – Iceberg
M.L.Holton – igloo (SPOKEN)
Ziibiwan – North
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Laughing Heart
Brandon Wint – Impossible and Common
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – The Oldest Tree in the World

Read additional notes on this podcast via Lapkat's link: https://lapkat.com/ladanzapoeticaradioshow/2018/2/14/la-danza-poetica-60-canada-untold-stories

The Frozen Goose at Hamilton Film Festival, 2017

The Frozen Goose - a film by M.L.Holton

It's OFFICIAL! ~ 

The Frozen Goose will be screening at Hamilton Film Festival.

Mark calendars for Nov. 8th, 7pm - 'Ontario Shorts!' program.
At wonderful theatre space - Cinestarz Burlington

Event listing:  https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonFilmFestival/posts/904118356412288

Ticket info:  https://www.bruha.com/event/2002

UPDATE: Sept.25th -  Tickets selling fast! Almost sold out!
UPDATE: Oct 18th - SECOND SCREENING set up. Nov. 9th.

Don't delay if you want to catch this Canadian classic WW1 family drama on the big screen! Fun for the whole family.

Also thrilled to report that this 25 minute film has been picked up by educational distributor,  McIntyre Media.  It is in their fall catalogue, available to rent or buy. (It has also been included in their Remembrance Day package.) And, #TheFrozenGoose will be broadcast on COGECO on Nov. 11th at 1pm & 7:30pm, and again on Nov. 12th at 1:30pm. Check your service provider's schedule for dates & show times.

UPDATE: Dec 12th - A special one-time Christmas airing is happening on CABLE 14, Dec. 17th, 6pm. Tune in then! Rogers and COGECO subscribers can live-stream. 

Or - Watch on-line through my secured portal: 

https://thefrozengoose.vhx.tv

The K.W.Irmisch 'Arts Person of the Year', M.L.Holton

The K.W.Irmisch 'Arts Person of the Year' Trophy, photo, & presented, by Ellen Irmisch, in memory of her parents.

Wow. Very humbled and honoured to receive

 The K.W. Irmisch 'Arts Person of the Year' award - and trophy!

Awards  celebration was held at the Royal Botanical Gardens on May 11th, 2017,

hosted and organized by the City of Burlington.  

When I was notified that I was 'in the running', and knowing too that I would not be able to attend that night, I prepared a little 'speech' ... just in case .... because you never know ....  
I was asked to have a 'stand in', and asked local arts champion, Kim Varrell, to act on my behalf. 

Little did we both know that I would WIN!!! 

'Art Person of the Year in 2016' - Margaret Lindsay Holton

Here's my speech, delivered with great grace & aplomb, by Kim - (THANK YOU Kim!!!): 

"I am very sorry I could not be with you all tonight. I am humbled and truly honored by this award, especially as everyone else in this category is so deserving.

I grew up in the rural North-end of the City on a sheep farm, up on top of the Escarpment, far from the lakeside downtown core. .... As a child, Burlington, as a City, was miles away! - Our family roots are deep in this area: first, as pre-Confederation farmers, then, post-Confederation, as Loyalist manufacturers, who fanned out, building and contributing, to the well-being of this region. Today, I stand as the sole professional artist from a large extended family that is now spread across much of Southern Ontario. - We are Canadians.

I do consider it my role - and responsibility - as a mature artist - to be a cultural witness of our Times - to interpret the issues of our day - through my pencil, pen and paint brush. Photography and film-making are newer additions to my work, but, fundamentally, my work is what I DO - as a multi-disciplined Canadian artist - rooted to this land - HERE - on this amazing planet.

Burlington, as a City, is now a rapidly evolving collection of diverse neighbourhoods. We are perched between one of the greatest of Lakes in North America, Lake Ontario, and the ancient primordial rock of the Niagara Escarpment. Our little patch of turf stands as a beacon of civility and safety in a larger war-torn and increasingly troubled world. To my mind, we all have a responsibility to maintain that civility through our words and neighbourly deeds. It is how we create "community" amongst ourselves.

Art, in whatever form, is a neuron bridge. It shares IDEAS. Some may be critical and unsettling, Others can be super positive and celebratory. All together, art expresses WHO we are to each other. Art makes us human.

I am very happy to receive this honour.  Thank you."

Burlington’s Best Awards are managed by a citizen’s committee that was established in 1965 with the mandate of recognizing local residents who bring honour to the city and make a significant difference in the community.

p.s. Highlighted in the nomination video was one of my more recent art projects, The Frozen Goose (about a rural family coping in the aftermath of WW1.). It is the ONLY Canadian film, as far as I know, that includes two outstanding local locations in Burlington, Ontario, Canada - Mount Nemo & Rattlesnake Point. Both are timeless landscapes. See it here.

WOOHOO!!!! 

:) 

UPDATE: A few 'news links' - re: City of Burlington's BEST Awards -

http://www.burlington.ca/en/modules/news/index.aspx?newsId=636d42fe-954f-47dd-aa16-2d07567f45a1

https://www.insidehalton.com/community-story/7310409-burlington-s-best-award-winners-announced-at-gala/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/7311949-burlington-s-best-awards/

Watch the #BurlBestAwards on @cogeco: Sunday, May 21 at 9pm

Plus a few shots of the event, courtesy of the City of Burlington -

Burlington BEST AWARD winners - without me :)

Nominees & BEST Awards Committee at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre

Mayor of Burlington, Rick Goldring at the City BEST Awards Gala

The Frozen Goose, Canadian Film - One Year Later

One Year Later - Final scene location for The Frozen Goose film

 

 One year ago today, after nine months of rehearsals, the local cast & crew dove in for an intense 6 days of film-making in North Burlington, Milton and at Westfield Heritage Village in southern Ontario, Canada.

One year later, this completed 25 minute Canadian film, about the psychic devastation that World War One wrought on one rural family, is a Reel Keeper! - Thanks to a superb cast: Leslie Gray as 'Leslie', John Fort as 'Tom', Rod McTaggart as 'Uncle Harry' - with youngsters Hannah Ralph playing 'Bella' & Cameron Brindle as 'Charlie! - Plus, a shout-out to local film champion, Nathan Fleet for keeping me rolling in the right direction during all aspects of production.

Clockwise: Two young stars, Hannah Ralph as 'Bella' & Cameron Brindle as 'Charlie', ruby red mittens made for the shoot, Cover Shot from The View Magazine review in December, 2016, plus DVDs on display at Canadian library.

(Here are some additional  'behind-the-scenes' from the 1st Day of the shoot.)

Releasing on September 11th, 2016, with a World Premiere at the Art Gallery of Burlington, it was very gratifying to see & hear audience's reaction, (from 2 sold-out screenings), for all the hard work all had put in. Overall, since 2014, there have been 18 pieces of PRESS written about this film.  The First Edition DVDs also sold out within the first two weeks of release.

Slowly but surely, as Producer, Director and Writer, I am now planning the BEST way to carry this small, yet timely, project forward ... Two distributors have offered Contracts. But, in the current topsy-turvy world of internet broadcasting, their EXCLUSIVE 5 to 7-year terms may not be, in fact, the best way ahead ... While I weigh out the pros and cons of this aspect of production, this wonderful family-friendly film is now Available ON-LINE  - GIVE A GANDER!

Cameron Brindle, as 'Charlie', getting ready for Take 4 at another private location in Halton County.

 Watch & Share The FROZEN GOOSE on-line 

at: https://thefrozengoose.vhx.tv/

Terrific Review of The FROZEN GOOSE in The View!

Front Cover of The View - Current Edition, Dec 2016

 Thrilled by this review (with a  FRONT COVER!) by Canadian film critic, Rachel More. 

Very complimentary, perceptive & kind. 

What a Christmas gift! 

Having trouble reading? 

Try the on-line version - Swipe thru to PAGE 13. 
Back issue: Volume 22, Issue 49. Dec 15-22nd, 2016.) 

Very Special 'One-Time' Christmas Screening of short Canadian film classic, The FROZEN GOOSE!

 (NB: this teaser trailer is NOT available on YouTube, 

I don't know why that 'option' is on this player ... 
Just discovered it wont play on Apple products either.)

Excited to announce a Very Special 'One Time' screening of The Frozen Goose at 3 o'clock, on SUNDAY, December 18th, at Cine Starz Burlington​, located at 460 Brant Street, in downtown Burlington. Superb sound, comfy & intimate theatre! Join Director, Margaret Lindsay Holton​, and a few cast members for this unique theatrical release! First come, first served. AND, there's popcorn!

Plus, just received this nice mini review by James Gike, in Burlington Lifestyle Magazine. 

Hamilton Film Expo, Festival & Canadian Film Market in the Hammer, Nov, 2016

Friendly welcome from local filmmakers & volunteers, Christine Whitlock & Craig Watkins

The 11th Annual Hamilton Film Festival opened this weekend with an open house at Digital Canaries Studio, with the launch of the 72 Hour Film Challenge: where teams get 72 hours to make a 7 min film. They have the run of the studio, (2pm until mid-night), will receive novel props, and have the option of SFX make-up, if they want it. Next weekend, on Saturday, at the Zoetic Cinema, (on the Hamilton mountain), the results will be shown. Awards will be presented by Academy Award winner, Colin Chivers.

Teams assessing the mock two-storey house ..

Simon WInterson, (owner), gave a quick tour of the 'sets\ available, including a 'mock' two-storey house, an operating room, a mock morgue, judging chambers, period & contemporary office space, elevator shafts and a set of the Oval Office. 

Come NEXT WEEKEND to the Zoetic Cinema Theatre, (on the mountain), to see how the teams did under intense time, set and prop restraints. Saturday, 7pm  - WILL BE A HOOT!

Operating Room jitters ...

And, COME ON OUT to the Hamilton Film Festival, running all this week. Nathan Fleet & his team have pulled out all the stops to make this a memorable, exciting, thought-provoking & funny - (gore galore!) - event. 

Simon, ever the obliging ham!

Schedule, listing & prices can be found on the Hamilton Film Festival WEBSITE.

Team players taking stock of the sets

Writers hard at work ... To be or not to be ... Empty or Dressed Sets!!!

Centre - Fearless HFF leader - Nathan Fleet, 2016

Oh, and yes, my newly released short film, The FROZEN GOOSE, a classic Canadian short story post WW1, will be screened to 'Market Badge' holders (only) at the Canadian Film Market on, fittingly, Remembrance Day, Friday, November 11th, at 2:30pm in the Sheraton Hotel, in downtown Hamilton  (in the ADELAIDE Room, 2nd Floor). During that weekend, I will be actively pitching this short Canadian film about World War 1, my next narrative film & my last award-winning novel to prospective producers & buyers. - Serious Fun Stuff! 

Footage from Premiere of The FROZEN GOOSE

NB: This is my first time posting with Bloggers innate video tool.
FYI,  it does NOT link to Youtube, so don't bother popping over there ...
(You can use the bracket tool on the lower right corner to enlarge the video to full-screen.
 Quality is not so hot when you do that. So far, it seems to work on PCs, but not on APPLE mobile products.)

Canadian artist/filmmaker, Margaret Lindsay Holton, introduces Mayor Rick Goldring at the World (!) Premiere of The FROZEN GOOSE at the Art Gallery of Burlington, (Ontario, Canada) on September 11th, 2016.  The Mayor offers up amusing insights into acting & local film production ... Missing is second speaker, CEO of the Art Gallery, Robert Steven. No footage of that.

Canadian Fiddler  David Clarence MacLean sets the pace for the 1st screening of classic Canadian short story The FROZEN GOOSE, during the World Premiere at the Art Gallery of Burlington (Ontario, Canada) on September 11th, 2016.

Between the two screenings of the FROZEN GOOSE, fab folk group Whiskey Epiphany - led by fiddler extraordinaire (and cast member) David Clarence MacLean - entertain with toe-tapping traditional rural reels. Excerpts of that fine performance are included in this final clip.

All footage generously supplied to MLH Productions by David's wonderful mum, Judy Holbrook.
THANKS JUDY!

Fall Newsletter 2016, via Canadian Artist, M.L.Holton

 

Art Attack, Painting by Canadian Artist, M.L.Holton

Fall Newsletter 2016, includes links for TICKETS to my short 25 min film, The FROZEN GOOSE Canadian Premiere at the Art Gallery of Burlington on Sunday, September 11th, plus, other links to additional up-coming exhibitions & group shows that I will be involved in during the fall.

Formally, the film is DONE. 
It is now time to move on to other things ...

Tangentially, one invaluable 'summer project' has been to read James A. Michener's mammoth historical-fictional novel, 'Hawaii'. What a lovely escape that has been. How enthralling to read such a masterfully written work that so successfully immerses one in an alternate time & space!

It has ignited a deep pleasure to read BOOKS again (... something I did a LOT of before the advent of the net...) I intend to do a lot more reading of BOOKS over the next little while, and, as a result, will intentionally forgo the incessant daily 'seduction of the screens'. I'm not 'leaving the net' for good - just pulling back significantly - to regain a necessary balance, renewed personal perspective and, to my mind, a solid dose of sanity.

I want to re-FOCUS on my life long work as a Canadian Artist now, and concentrate on those issues that concern and motivate me. I want the time to just THINK, unfettered by a lot of 'net noise'.  So, even though the up-coming fall WILL BE very busy for me, I am really looking forward to the 'away time' to meditate on other 'off net' items of personal interest - like sustainability and care-taking planet stewardship  ...

Canadian Artist - Margaret Lindsay Holton

I WILL catch up in the late spring or summer of 2017. We'll see where I'm at then! - Have a Great Canadian Winter all. If you do need to contact me, please use the contact tab on the upper right of the blog. Otherwise, as the infamous Red Green used to say, 'Keep your stick on the ice!' 

And, most important, ENJOY Life. 

mlh

Get TICKETS to Canadian Premiere of The FROZEN GOOSE @ Art Gallery of Burlington

Please join the Cast & Director

at the Art Gallery of Burlington 

on Sunday, September 11th, 3-5pm.

Please note, there will be TWO screenings, (choose which one you prefer) at 3:15pm or 4pm, with a 'live' musical INTERLUDE by Whiskey Epiphany, and some fancy fiddling, before and aft, by fiddler extraordinaire, David Clarence MacLean. Surprise guests will head up the presentation. After the second screening, there will be a 15 min Q&A with the cast &  Director, Margaret Lindsay Holton.

TICKETS Now Available! - On-line ONLY -
via EVENTBRITE 

 LINK: Order yours HERE! 

Low Resolution OFFICIAL TRAILER below:

The FROZEN GOOSE - TeaserTrailer 2 -with PRE-ORDER Link

Releasing SEPTEMBER, 2016. 

Pre-Order your Home-Use DVD Today! 

The Frozen Goose - Teaser Trailer 1 - with PRE-ORDER LINK

Releasing SEPTEMBER, 2016. 

Pre-Order your Home-Use DVD Today! 

#TheFrozenGoose CANADIAN SHORT FILM Update

As some of you know, I'm doing a short film, The Frozen Goose, based on a published short story of mine of the same name. We've found some astounding private locations, as seen below, but we NEED Mother Nature to co-operate. We NEED below freezing temps for 2 weeks SOLID, to insure safety on the lake. (And we could use a bit more snow ...)  But, overall, SWEET!  - All coming together nicely. We SHOOT from February 6th to the 12th. Aiming for Release FALL 2016.

Follow along with cast & crew during pre-production via Facebook, Twitter or via dedicated website.

 

Launch of THE FROZEN GOOSE - Part 3. INDIEGOGO LINK

It's OFFICIAL!! Join Us!!  Indiegogo campaign is now LIVE - 
NEW perks & Updates added - Sept 11th, 2015

So thrilled to have such great support from those in the arts & film community.  Keep 'em coming folks - only 22 days to go!!  

UPDATE: 6 days to go! It would appear that we've not done so well on the Indiegogo campaign, but thanks to 'private' contributions, like arts impresario Robert Missen and famed Canadian artist, Charles Pachter, we're much closer to a 'start point'. Thanks be to everyone who has pitched in to help make this happen! Your pennies do count! Please do chip in what you can before October 5th. Cheers!   

UPDATE, October 7th: DONE. Well, we didn't get anywhere NEAR what we'd hoped. STILL - because of other generous 'outside' contributions, we do have 'Lift Off'. This production is now fully in 'pre-production'. Aiming for - Release - in the September of 2016.  

Follow along on our Facebook 'fanpage', The Frozen Goose, or on Twitter, @TheFrozenGoose. Thanks everyone!  Lots of 'serious fun'! On & UP!

Launch of The Frozen Goose - Part 2

\

I've just picked up the promo cards for the IndieGoGo campaign. 

Lookin' good people!

----- Press Release ----- 

 

A new independent Canadian film production is underway in the GHA!

The Frozen Goose, based on a published short story of the same name by award-winning Golden Horseshoe artist & author, Margaret Lindsay Holton, is being made into a short film.

First published in the critically acclaimed cross-country World War One anthology, 'Engraved: Canadian Stories of World War One' ,The Frozen Goose follows a rural farming Canadian family as they cope in the aftermath of The Great War ...Their lives have been shattered. There has been Great Loss. And then - a horrific incident occurs that tests the very last shreds of their Survival Capabilities ...

Directed by Holton, cinematography will be handled by local photographic all-star, Kien Tran. Principal Photography is set to shoot in the first week of February, 2016.

A superb cast includes two veterans of the local stage, Leslie Gray, co-founder of Koogle Theatre Inc, and the ever affable Rod McTaggart - known for his recent performances at The Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Newcomers to the set include Cameron Brindle and the brilliant young starlet, Hannah Ralph - of Hamilton.

A novel aspect of this film production is that the Director, MLH, has committed to give a percentage of the net revenues to support The Red Cross of Canada. As MLH says, "Without The Red Cross, Life would be very bleak for many throughout the world. Thanks are to be given for their outstanding work for the young and old alike - all across Canada - and beyond."

- - - - - - - - -

See seductive teaser trailers for The Frozen Goose on YouTube, under MLH Productions. Beguiling and thought-provoking imagery is accompanied by the toe-tapping fiddling of the ever popular Golden Horseshoe fiddler, David Clarence MacLean.

Teaser Trailer 1.
  Teaser Trailer  2.

Keep up with the The Frozen Goose production via their fan page on Facebook.

Or, via Twitter @TheFrozenGoose.

For additional media updates and/or press queries, contact -

Margaret Lindsay Holton -

Writer/Producer/Director

Phone (redacted for internet)

Email: mlhpro (at) hotmail (dot) com 

UPDATE Aug 14th: Our First Bit of Press!  in the BURLINGTON GAZETTE 
UPDATE Aug 25th: Our Second Bit of Press! in The Hamilton Spectator & Flamborough Review. 

Launch of The Frozen Goose - Part 1

As some of you know, I've been involved with filmmaking over the past few decades ...

I am delighted to announce a new project, The Frozen Goose. Releasing in the Fall of 2016.
Please 'like' and 'follow' our production over on Facebook.