The Sensei returns to Colorado

IN celebration of the Colorado cast of the awards winning film "The Sensei"

LOCAL ACTORS support feature film at PPLFF this September

Colorado actors will be part of the award winning independent film “THE SENSEI” screening for the Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival on Saturday September 20th at 3:30. The screening will take place at the new Cornerstone Fine Arts Center’s screening room. In attendance will be the filmmaker and star, Diana Lee Inosanto, goddaughter of Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee. In support of the film, which shot in locations around Colorado, a number of local actors will be in attendance to answers questions following the screening. The principal cast includes Louis Mandylor of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, Tzi Ma of “Ladykillers” with Tom Hanks and “Rush Hour 3” with Jackie Chan, Keith David of “Platoon” and “Something about Mary”, as well as Michael O’Lasky III, former “Power Ranger” and one of the “3 Ninjas”. Rounding out the principal cast includes actors Emily Kuroda of “Gilmore Girls”, Tim Lounibos of “JAG”, and Mark McGraw, brother of country star Tim and son of baseball player Tug McGraw, in his feature film debut. “The Sensei” premiered at the Directors Guild of America in LA as part of the Asian American Film Festival in May of this year, to a sold-out audience, and was received with a standing ovation when the credits rolled. Since May it has been to festivals in New York and San Francisco, up and down the West Coast and is bound for Europe and Israel in the months ahead. The independent film was shot in 2005 and 2006 in locations around Colorado, including the Denver Botanical Gardens, TSDBT, and the town of Sterling, before returning to LA for completion. Though much of the principal cast was attached in LA before the film came to Colorado, two main and a large number of support characters were cast in the film, offering local actors and crew a unique and exciting opportunity to work with film and television talent from Hollywood. Amongst other local talent, often seen on commercial television and in area theaters, were Melissa Taylor of Colorado Springs, Jonathon Camp of Denver, Ryan Parker of Castle Rock, Maiz Lucero, a UC Boulder graduate and local resident, Scott Ryan of Denver, and Arlene Rapal of Denver. Mark Grove, of Asgard Films in Denver, served as local producer and stunts.