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“Renee,”which used students from all around Central Florida in key production jobs, is the opening-night film for the 10-day festival, presented by Enzian Theater in Maitland.

Valencia College students took on myriad responsibilities, Full Sail University students worked on the sound, students from Orlando’s DAVE School produced digital effects. The University of Central Florida has a connection to the film, too: Writer Kate King Lynch is a UCF graduate.

“We’ve become a good center for film education,” said Ralph Clemente, director of Valencia’s film production technology department. “We’re a very creative community.”

For “Renee,” 43 students worked alongside 60 professionals. The on-the-job instruction received by the students is invaluable, Clemente said.

“It’s a great educational system. If you want to teach how films are made, you can only talk about it so much,” Clemente said. “The professionals become free faculty members.”

Based on a true story, “Renee” focuses on Orlando friends who band together to help a young woman break the cycle of drug addiction, alcohol abuse and self-harm (or “cutting”) that has plagued her.

Their experience led to the launch of To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit that offers support to those struggling with depression and self-injury, and then to the film.

The movie stars Kat Dennings, Chad Michael Murray and Rupert Friend. Financing came together thanks in part to state incentives and a deal that allowed a union crew to work with students.

Digital Animation and Visual Effects (DAVE) School students worked on special effects for the film, which blends artistic fantasy sequences with gritty realism.

“The students knew the effects they produced for ‘Renee’ had to fit into the main production of a multimillion-dollar film,” said visual-effects supervisor Dave Stinger, a frequent guest lecturer and former instructor at The DAVE School, located at Universal Studios. “They certainly accomplished that.”

Students at Full Sail University in Winter Park, meanwhile, worked in the school’s Dolby-approved dubbing stage on audio post-production.

“We are extremely proud of our students, staff and faculty,” said Rick Ramsey, Full Sail University’s director of visual arts. “It’s an incredible experience to be a part of this film and the festival, which both have firm roots set within our Central Florida arts community.”

OrlandSentinel.com

Marvel is also preparing to begin auditions for Thor 2. Filming will begin in London – where most of the production will take place – this summer.

The main cast from the first film are all set to return, including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Idris Elba, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings and Ray Stevenson.

The story will take Thor to other worlds as it continues his journey, particularly his romance with Jane Foster and the changing dynamic with his father Odin, as well as the broader stakes for the Nine Realms. Thor 2 is released on November 15, 2013.

Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs) use Caroline’s invite to a Manhattan gala as a means to meet Martha Stewart and present their cupcake business. Martha Stewart guest stars.

FROM HER BREAKOUT ROLE as an angry teenager in The 40-Year-Old Virgin to her angst-y turn as Michael Cera’s hipster dream girl in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Kat Dennings has always been one of the more fascinating young actresses on the big screen. And now, as Max, the smart-aleck waitress with a heart of gold on 2 Broke Girls, she’s proved another thing, too: She can headline a TV show.
Although Dennings, 26, couldn’t have predicted the show’s huge success—2 Broke Girls is the top-rated new series of the season—it became clear early on that she was part of something special. “I knew instantly that we all had great chemistry,” Dennings says while driving home from work. (She lives in the Valley, eschewing all things Young Hollywood; “I would rather die” than go to a Hollywood club, she says.) “And I absolutely loved [show creators] Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings. Beth [Behrs] and I are literally best friends now. We text each other all day, every day.”

If it all sounds like a lovefest, that’s because it is. But don’t mention all of the media hoopla about women in 2012 being funnier than ever, or Dennings will show just the slightest bit of (adorably imperfect) fangs. “I always feel like it’s kind of a sexist thing to even bring up,” she says, “because it’s not like women just happened, you know? Women are some of the funniest out there. Carol Burnett, Cher, Fran Drescher—these women are comedy icons. Funny women are not a trend. It’s definitely not something new.”

Case in point: In any given episode, her chemistry with Behrs—which she says was “absolutely instant”—is palpable and the rapid-fire parade of vagina jokes and political incorrectness they dish out is some of the funniest repartee on TV. Which brings us back to those aforementioned texts: What hilarious and naughty topics do these two talk about? “I can’t tell you!” Dennings says with a laugh. Then she reconsiders. “Well, OK, the last text I got from her was asking me if I wanted a Jamba Juice because she had gotten to work first,” she says. “Not very exciting.”

As for her work on 2 Broke Girls, Dennings is happy to have settled into a routine. “I’d be lying if I said it’s not exhausting,” she says, “but I’ve done some very exhausting small films that never get seen. Looking back [at some indie films], I don’t know how I’m still alive. Shooting night shoots in the middle of winter, playing a crack-addicted prostitute, with no money, no budget, no sleep. Toward the end of almost every shoot I get very, very sick. That’s been my trend. While this show is demanding, the schedule is remarkably human.”

In other words, Kat Dennings is not only still alive, she’s thriving.