THEATER ALUMNA’S AWARD-WINNING FILM SCREENED ON CAMPUS

Central Wyoming College theater alumna Devin Sanchez, the producer and actor in an independent award-winning film, shows the movie Wednesday, Nov. 6 in the theater where she began her professional training.

Sanchez presents Twenty Million People, a film shot on an extremely tiny budget that was raised entirely online, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert A. Peck Arts Center Theatre where the Casper native first got her acting chops.

The screening of the film is free and is one of several events celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Arts Center, which opened on campus in November 1983. Sanchez, along with fellow producers and actors Michael Ferrell and Chris Pine, are also scheduled to give workshops to CWC students of film, television and theater while in residence at Central.

After earning an associate’s degree in theater and dance at CWC and a bachelor’s of fine arts at the University of Wyoming, Sanchez moved to New York City. She and her two co-collaborators used their established internet presence and offered creative perks to financial backers. Along with a professional four-man crew, the trio got their footage in just 12 days.

From the first script reading in Manhattan to the world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California, Sanchez, Ferrell and Pine made the romantic comedy in just 14 months. Twenty Million People has been an official selection at 18 festivals in four countries and has won five awards. It has been screened to sold-out theaters in New York City and London.

While at CWC, Sanchez said her favorite roles were in Anything Goes, Imaginary Invalid, and All in the Timing. Most recently, she was seen in the web series Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star and Stoop Sale, which was selected for the Independent Film Festival and distributed by koldcast.tv. She has appeared off-Broadway in The Audience, on NBC’s Law & Order and the TV pilot Temps. She is a stand-up comedian and has performed at The Comedy Store.

Photo: Devin Sanchez, left, and Michael Ferrell, right