Saturday, March 10, 2012

Reel People: Kat Dennings is Renee Yohe

The film is Renee. Renee is directed by Nathan Frankowitz with screenplay and story by Kate King Lynch and Nathan Frankowitz.

Renee Yohe

Renee Yohe was born sometime in the late eighties. By the time she was 19 was in a bad spot, with severe depression, involved in self-injury ("cutting"), and had a drug and alcohol addiction.

At this time, in February 2006, she had a life changing encounter in which she met Jamie Tworkowski. Where some friends only encouraged the bad habits, Jamie wanted to see Renee be free of her pain and additions.

Renee Yohe would use razor blades to write foul and degrading things on her arms, and when Jamie tried to help get Renee into a drug rehabilitation center, they would not accept her due to being to high of a risk, primarily due to the self-injury and the level of detox needed.

So, instead Jamie Tworkowski and his friends took Renee in, and over five days they helped her in her detox as well as helped raise money for Renee's detox by selling t-shirts.

After five days, she handed Jamie her last razor blade and was able to be admitted into rehabilitation.

During this time, the group and non-profit continued to raise money for Renee's rehab and the message hit the road with bands like Amberlin and Switchfoot, giving an opportunity to sell T-Shirts and share the message.

Renee and Jamie are now a part of a movement called "To Write Love on Her Arms," a non-profit organization based in Melbourne, Florida (originally based on Cocoa, FL) where a staff of 12 continue their global effort.

Renee

In addition to staring Kat Dennings at Renee Yohe, the film also stars Chad Michael Murray as Jamie Tworkowski.

The film also has roles for Rupert Friend and Corbin Bleu, and is marketed not just as an inspirational film event, but as a film that tells the story of tragedy and redemption in a unique way with a multi-level story about dreams and fantasies. The film is also promoted for his indie-movie soundtrack.

Kat Dennings certainly has the skill for an Oscar nomination, and it's hard to tell exactly how this film might resonate with a wider film audience, but who knows...Will Kat Dennings receive her first Oscar nomination for portraying this Real (Reel) Person?

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