The Man Whom The Trees Loved

And in the distance she heard the forest roaring further out.

Her husband's voice was in it.

- Algernon Blackwood

The Man Whom The Trees Loved

Every now and then life has a way of kicking you in the butt so hard, it’s difficult to stand back up—but if you do, it can sometimes lead to something truly special.

In early 2025, after wrapping a festival tour with his last film, Tehben Dean stopped through Florida to check in on his longtime friend and fellow filmmaker, Woodruff Laputka, who was going through a really challenging divorce. Woodruff was interested in making a documentary while floating down the St. Johns River in his childhood backyard, hoping to find his groove again. Our search for a houseboat led us instead to Drayton Island, where a small cottage was shown to us, with a lake-front view and a derelict dock. It was covered in the trappings of lifetimes from its owners and we looked at each other, inspiration sparking in our eyes.

That night, back from our scout Woodruff shared an idea he’d always wanted to adapt to film, the story and themes of Algernon Blackwood’s The Man Whom the Trees Loved. It hit us together, that’s the movie that felt right, and It perfectly fit the location we had fallen in love with.

We spent the next couple of months properly scouting the island and pulling together a script inspired by Blackwood’s haunting themes. What we ended up crafting is a film that we believe captured the essence of his story, while also allowing us to explore our own emotional landscapes, with themes of loss and inspiration.

Looking back 5 months later, our film feels like an experience in both healing and grief. Woodruff’s truth in life felt like it had been taken away. The thing he loved more than the world, his son, felt like was being stolen. Inspiration to create anything, whether movies, drawings, or even functional day-to-day living, felt veiled and out of reach. The echo of a life lost. 

The opportunity to explore together through our shared passion for storytelling came into sharp focus and over the two weeks of production in May we fought our way through the jungle thickets of rural Florida. Climbing through trees, dodging alligators and barely avoiding armies of ticks, we managed to create something beautiful. And for the first time in almost two years, Woodruff found some catharsis, the truth he was seeking through expression and art over self-destruction.

The Man Whom the Trees Loved is both a tribute to a master of literary horror and a deeply personal reflection on the journey through grief and renewal. The quiet beauty of being lost—and then slowly, unexpectedly, finding your voice again.

WOODTEB