''To Write Love on Her Arms'' (also known as ''Day One''; formerly ''Renee'') is a 2012 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film written and directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring

Kat Dennings Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'' (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in the Marvel ...

Chad Michael Murray Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW drama series ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), a recurring role as Tristin DuGray on The WB/ CW series ''Gilmo ...

Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...

Mark Saul Mark Adam Saul (born June 20, 1985) is an American actor who is best known for appearing on the popular Nickelodeon show ''All That'' in the final two seasons of the show's first era. His other notable credits include ''The Social Network'', '' ...

Juliana Harkavy Juliana Jay Harkavy (born January 1, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Rebecca in ''Dolphin Tale'', Jessie in ''To Write Love on her Arms'', and Alisha in the television series '' The Walking Dead''. Her roles include ...

, and

Corbin Bleu Corbin Bleu Reivers (; born February 21, 1989), known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor and singer. He made his acting debut in the 2004 adventure comedy film ''Catch That Kid''. He has since appeared in the Discovery Kids dra ...

. The film is based on the life of troubled teenager Renee Yohe and the founding of

To Write Love on Her Arms To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an American nonprofit organization that aims to present hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, self-injury and thoughts of suicide, while also investing in treatment and recovery. Based in M ...

by Jamie Tworkowski, after he and others helped Yohe to overcome her challenges enough to be able to enter rehab. The film premiered at the

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Film Festival on March 11, 2012, and was eventually released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on March 3, 2015.Unreleased Sony movies leak after hack; Sony may suspect North Korea.
''

Network World International Data Group (IDG, Inc.) is a market intelligence and demand generation company focused on the technology industry. IDG, Inc.’s mission is centered around supporting the technology industry through research, data, marketing technol ...

''. Retrieved December 4, 2014.

Plot

It is 2006, and 19-year-old Renee Yohe has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. However, her life is that of a darker tale. As she battles with

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

self-harm Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...

and other life issues, she receives love and support from numerous friends and new acquaintances, including Jamie Tworkowski and David McKenna. When Yohe is turned away from

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

, with open wounds from self-cutting making her too great a treatment risk, McKenna takes her into his home for five days of

detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

, while Tworkowski posts an article on Myspace, titled "To Write Love on Her Arms" (in contrast to Yohe having written "Fuck Up" on her arm, with a razor blade), to fundraise the cost of rehab. Their efforts for Yohe are successful, and leads to Tworkowski founding the charity group

, offering similar support to other people who have depression, suicidal thoughts, addictions, or struggles with self-harm.

Cast

Production

Pre-production

Josh Lujan Loveless, Bob Massey, Jamie Tworkowski, and Renee Yohe all served as story consultants for the film, collaborating with Frankowski for the script. The film is produced by David Blair McKenna, a long time friend of Yohe's who provided her his home as a place to get sober, as depicted in the film, so she could enter rehab.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

started on February 23, 2011, exactly five years after Yohe and Tworkowski first met. Filming went until March 29, 2011, and was shot entirely in Yohe's home town of

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Various scenes were shot at

Valencia Community College Valencia College is a public college in Orlando, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. The college was founded in 1967 as Valencia Junior College and changed its name in 2010 because the academic scope of the school had expanded to ...

, The DAVE School,

Full Sail University Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center ...

and Wall Street Plaza.

Soundtrack

The film features songs from

Travis McCoy Travis Lazarus "Travie" McCoy (born August 5, 1981) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is the co-founder and former lead vocalist of the rap rock band Gym Class Heroes, in addition to having a solo career. McCoy became involved w ...

, Paper Route,

Rachael Yamagata Rachael Yamagata (born September 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing five EPs and four studio albums. Her ...

Dead Man's Bones Dead Man's Bones is a rock duo consisting of actor Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. Their first album, ''Dead Man's Bones'', was released on 6 October 2009 through ANTI- Records. The entire album is a collaboration with the Silverlake Conservator ...

, Between the Trees,

Kye Kye Kye Kye (stylized KYE KYE) is an American indietronica band from Portland, Oregon, that formed in 2010. The band is made up of Estonian-born Yagolnikov siblings Olga and Timothy. They released their first studio album in 2011 entitled ''Young Lov ...

, Flint Eastwood,

Flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, Gatlin Elms, Duologue, Danny Leggett, Civilian, Savannah, Alex Bennett, and Bearcat.

Release

The film opened the 21st

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

on April 13, 2012, playing at the Regal Winter Park Village. The film was released directly to DVD three years later, on March 3, 2015.

Piracy

On November 27, 2014, the film was leaked onto several peer-to-peer file sharing websites four months ahead of its intended public release. The film was one of five

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

films leaked, though fewer than 20,000 people downloaded ''To Write Love on Her Arms'', compared to the 1.6 million combined downloads of '' Fury'', ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'', '' Still Alice'', and ''

Mr. Turner ''Mr. Turner'' is a 2014 biographical drama film based on the last 25 years of the life of artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). Written and directed by Mike Leigh, the film stars Timothy Spall in the title role, with Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Je ...

''.

Awards and accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, to_write_love_on_her_arms 2012 films 2012 biographical drama films 2012 independent films 2010s English-language films American biographical drama films American independent films Films about addiction Films about depression Films about self-harm Films about suicide Films scored by Andy Hunter (DJ) Films set in 2006 Films set in Florida Films shot in Florida 2010s American films