Production Summary

Shot on location in Maryland and West Virginia -- near Cumberland, Brunswick, Westminster, Monkton & Harper’s Ferry -- Forest for the Trees is Jonathan Slade’s first full-length feature.

Slade financed the film entirely on two Visa credit cards (Total budget = $26,000), and began principal photography in October 1995. Since all actors and crew worked without pay, the shooting schedule had to be extremely flexible to accommodate everyone’s work & family commitments.

In fact, there were many times when it seemed like the film would never be completed. At one point -- with the movie two-thirds shot -- an actor moved to San Francisco with no plans to return to Maryland. At times like this, Slade -- who also edited the film -- would hole himself up for long hours in a Steenbeck edit suite to cut what he could, and allow his credit cards to “heal” while re-writing the remaining scenes.

Eventually the actor returned from San Francisco for a frantic 3-day shoot, and principal photography was completed in May 1997.

Slade finished editing in October 1997, and wrapped up titling & audio post in January 1998, with critically acclaimed Baltimore musician Lisa Cerbone contributing 4 songs to the movie’s soundtrack.

Forest for the Trees premiered July 1998 at the Charles Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

A life-long resident of Maryland and a 1991 graduate of the USC School of Cinema-Television in Los Angeles, Slade was an Emmy-Award winning producer of documentaries and children’s programming at Maryland Public Television for 11 years, and now teaches mass communication, film history & TV production at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.