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China L. Colston was born and raised in Chicago.  She pursued acting more than 20 years ago, hoping to move audiences like other actors have moved her. She may fall short at times, but she'll never be guilty of not trying.  

 

In fact-acting, screenwriting and filmmaking have added layers of artistic joy to her life.  As a filmmaker, her goal is to pen and produce narratives, centered mostly around complicated yet relatable American-Black characters, under the genres of romantic dramas and family dramas.

 

It should be noted that her first artistic passion is dance. Ironically, at the vulnerable age of 8 she was overlooked by a day camp counselor, selecting girls to dance in Meyering Park's summer day camp talent show. Undeterred by rejection, the following four summers her choreography and dancing earned her 4 first place trophies in that very same talent show.

 

Moreover, as an adult, she received her core theatre training at Chicago's Eta Creative Arts Foundation, under the expert instruction of her late teacher Okoro Harold Johnson. 

 

She has written, produced and acted in 6 of her eight screenplays produced in Chicago and here in New York.  With that being said, she is very pleased about becoming a member of New York Women in Film and Television.

 

Furthermore, in 2022 she was hired as a principal screenwriter to adapt Victor Love's story, entitled SUMMERTIME CHI into a screenplay. With her imaginative ideas and research, she was able to make major contributions to this adaptation.  She is eagerly looking forward to seeing the feature film version of this script in the near future.

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Without doubt, her most meaningful artistic achievement is DARK SEED wherein she wore the hats of screenwriter, director, producer and lead actress.  Much to her delight, it can now be streamed on Peacocktv, Prime Video, Tubi and Freevee, through her digital distribution deal with Maverick Entertainment Group.  It was also celebrated with the following honors:

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• Our Choice "Best Feature film winner"- S.I.T.A aka Success In The Arts

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• "Best Feature film winner"-Validate Yourself Film Festival

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• "Best Actress in a Leading Role winner"-Validate Yourself Film Festival

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• "Best Director nomination"-Validate Yourself Film Festival-

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• "Best Feature Film Black Excellence nomination"-African American Arts Alliance of Chicago

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• "Best Lead Actress in a Feature film nomination"-S.I.T.A. aka Success In The Arts

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Additional Honors:

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• '"Best Short film nomination" for SWEET THANG-S.I.T.A. aka Success In The Arts

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• "Best Actress In An Ensemble Nomination"-Chicago Black Theater Alliance

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• "Best Featured Actress Nomination"-Chicago Black Theater Alliance

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What's more, she wrote a dynamic and heartwarming feature length screenplay titled, TO COOK OR NOT TO COOK starring Welela Mar Kindred, Stacey A. Griffin and K'Lynn Holden. It follows the journey of a beloved chef in Harlem, who is determined to fix his broken relationship with his daughter through the means of cooking. She was beside herself upon being gifted with a $5,000 City Arts Corps grant from the New York Foundation of the Arts in 2021. She is very grateful to GOD for such a blessing.  Equally Important, she is seeking business sponsorships, grants and donations to cover the cast and crew 150K micro budget of the same film. Her desire is to direct it during the  summer of 2025.  You can donate to her Gofundme campaign.

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