D. Lee Inosanto
D. LEE INOSANTO (also known as Diana Lee Inosanto)
is as close to martial arts royalty as you can get. She's the daughter of a legend
(Dan Inosanto), the honorary "niece" of a global icon (Bruce
Lee) and the wife of master instructor and stunt/fight choreographer
(Ron Balicki). Never resting on the glory of
her DNA, Inosanto has carved a place in the martial arts pantheon on
her own terms. The writer-director-producer
and co-star of "THE SENSEI"
grew up surrounded by a Who's Who of the martial world. By contrast,
growing up in Torrance, California, D. Lee's love of performing arts
would be nurtured by her Aunt Lilia (Inosanto) a drama teacher and actress.
In later years, D. Lee would join the Asian American theater company,
Lodestone Theater Ensemble continuing to evolve as an actress. Inosanto combined her love
of acting with the martial arts and wound up working as a stunt-actress
on film and TV shows like FACE OFF and BUFFY the VAMPIRE SLAYER doubling
for actresses, Margaret Cho and Sarah Michelle Gellar. But eventually
she tired of this kind of work, and taking her inspiration from Sylvester
Stallone with ROCKY and Edward Burns with BROTHER'S MCMULLEN, seized
control as the creator of her own film project. Inosanto made the most of her
stuntwoman situations to learn directly on set about the "directing
process" by watching and absorbing the techniques, strategies, and
philosophies exhibited by A-list directors, like Ang Lee, John Woo,
Barry Sonnenfeld, Chris Columbus and Clint Eastwood and others she was
privileged to just hang around and be there. By the end of 2008, as an emerging
director and writer on THE SENSEI, Inosanto would win awards and accolades
at film festivals like LA Femme International, Hoboken International,
Philadelphia Asian American Film Fest, San Francisco's Frameline and
New York's Newfest to name a few. As a martial artist and role
model, D. Lee Inosanto has appeared in magazines worldwide that
include, MORE,
IMPACT, MUSCLE & FITNESS, A & U, and BLACK BELT magazine. Recently, Inosanto was named INSIDE KUNG-FU's,
"Woman of the Year 2009". In addition, D. Lee Inosanto
associate produced and co-starred in the independent feature film THE
PRODIGY which received "4 stars" out of "5"
from FILM THREAT. She is currently co-producing SINNERS AND SAINTS
with Johnny Strong, Sean Patrick Flannery and Oscar Nominee, Tom Berenger.
