Katrina Elias

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.