To Write Love on Her Arms (film)

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. But her life is that of a darker tale. As she battles with drug addiction, manic depression, self-harm 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, with open wounds from self-cutting making her too great a treatment risk, McKenna takes her into his home for five days of detox, 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 To Write Love on Her Arms, offering similar support to other depressed, suicidal, self-harming drug addicts.

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 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, Florida. Various scenes were shot at Valencia Community College, The DAVE School, Full Sail University and Wall Street Plaza.

Soundtrack

The film features songs from Travis McCoy, Paper Route, Rachael Yamagata, Dead Man's Bones, Corbin Bleu, Between the Trees, Kye Kye, Flint Eastwood, Flagship, Gatlin Elms, Duologue, Danny Leggett, Civilian, Savannah, Alex Bennett, and Bearcat.

Release

The film opened the 21st Florida Film Festival 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 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, Still Alice, and Mr. Turner.