Katrina Elias
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Katrina Olivia Elias was born in Barranquilla, Colombia from parents of
Lebanese, Spanish and Chibcha descent, the latter an indigenous Native
American people of the Northern Andes of Colombia. Her parents
immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio when she turned a year old. During her
teens she told original stories through modern dance and music-mixing,
set and costume design. She started acting around her two-year
attendance at the University of Tampa and her studies at the Art
Institute of Fort Lauderdale, where she received an AA in Fashion and
Design. For the next ten years, she continued her acting studies; since
appearing in many stage plays, short films, TV guest-star appearances,
and Indie feature films. Acting provided her with the onset experience
to write and produce her first short 16MM film titled "Dreamkeeper" in
New Orleans in 1997, where she began to write full length features, one
of which was finalist at the New York International Hispanic Film and
MTV Film Festival of 2001. In her continued writing efforts, she wrote
and sold "Bel & Ricky," a family situational comedy pilot, with options
for three episodes, 2003. She is the writer of the Imagen Foundation
nominated, comedy of errors stage play, "Abuelo's Legacy" (starring Liz
Torres) which was produced by Nosotros, The Jude Shaw Theatre Company,
The 5th Annual Hispanic Playwrights Festival of Fort Worth, and the
Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. Ms. Elias wrote "Red Colombian Sky" a
one-act stage-play in early 2004. It was immediately selected for
production by the 6th Annual Hispanic Playwright's Festival of Fort
Worth, and soon after adapted for a short 35MM film and renamed "Madam
Marina," marking her directorial debut. "Madam Marina's" World Premiere
took place in the beautiful Victorian City of Port Townsend, Washington
along the Olympic Peninsula, September 2005.
