TO COOK OR NOT TO COOK follows a beloved chef using cooking to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
First and foremost, China L. Colston is grateful to GOD for her artistic talents.
She is repped by Five Star Talent Management and Firestarter Entertainment talent agency. She was born and raised in Chicago and 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.
Acting, screenwriting and filmmaking light up the artistic part of her soul. Her filmmaking vision 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. Conversely, 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 7 of her eight screenplays produced in Chicago and here in New York.
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 eagerly looks forward to seeing the feature film version of this script in the near future.
Without doubt, her most meaningful artistic achievement is DARK SEED wherein she was the 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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"Best Feature film" winner- S.I.T.A aka Success in the Arts awards
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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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Additional Honors:
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'"Best Short film nomination" for SWEET THANG--
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(S.I.T.A. aka Success in the Arts awards)
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"Best Actress in an Ensemble" nomination for BLAXPLOITATION: THE REMIX--
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(Chicago Black Theatre Alliance (Ira Aldridge)
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"Best Featured Actress" nomination for A SOLDIER'S HEART--
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(Chicago Black Theatre Alliance (Ira Aldridge)
During the spring of 2023, she wrote an unnerving yet hopeful 20 minute screenplay entitled, NEFERTITI. It tells the story of a successful online femininity guru, battling domestic abuse, offline. In it, she will wear the hats of lead actress, producer and director. She aims to shoot it during the spring or summer of 2026. Furthermore, she is accepting donations, grants and business sponsorships for this $20K short film budget via her cashapp @$ChinaLColston