Christopher Celestin

Christopher Celestin was born in Léogâne, Haiti on November 17th, 1987. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 5, and grew up in Medford, Massachusetts. He moved to Kansas City at the age of 15, where he attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

"All my life, I have been driven by purpose, without it I am blind. As a young child, I was eager to become an archaeologist. This was in large part to the Lara Croft video game series. Her adventures were exciting and mysterious. All of that turned sour one day during a school trip to the Boston Museum of Science. I witnessed a more accurate description of the day to day life of an archeologist and it was not to my liking. I become lost.

For over a year I felt lost. There was nothing to look forward to. Nothing I did felt like it mattered. When I did find purpose again, like most things it was unexpected.

One of my mother's friends invited us to the movies one night. When we arrived, he was interested in watching the film 'How High' and I was radically against it. Instead I went to see,'the Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring'. The experience was life changing and forever altered the way I look at films.

I found purpose again with filmmaking, the great art medium of our time. Coming from a low income family, my options were limited, so I concentrated on what I could, screenwriting. Writing was once something that I hated but now turned to joy. In 2005, I was lucky enough to attend the Iowa Young Writers' Studio were my love for writing was strengthened.

In the fall of 2006, I attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City. I majored in communications studies with an emphasis in film. After my first semester I was recommend by one of my film professors to take part in an independent film being shot in Kansas City. During the summer of 2007, I worked as a production assistant on Lie to Me (Domestically Fling). I learned a lot that summer and possibly too much. During my next semester at school I arrogantly felt as if my time was being wasted. I thought I knew too much, so I took a break.

I had a master plan to spend 2008 perfecting a screenplay, find an agent, and beginning my career in the film industry. Only if it were that simple. I spent the following year practically a ghost, trying to reclaim my passion for filmmaking. In 2010, I moved to the New York City Metro Area and spent the greater part of the year getting settled.

In 2011, I met Rayvon Southerland who was another dreamer like myself who wanted to make an impact in the film industry. Together we decided to develop a TV project called Land of the Free with a small group of screenwriters including Meena Sajwani, Vera Itkin, and Christian Sparks. As the project endured, I started Fixed Signs Productions in 2012.

Together with a dedicated crew, during the summer of 2012, I was able to produce my first professional short film, the Love of My Life. The project was in many ways my test to prove to myself that filmmaking was truly my passion. I funded the project out of my own pocket on a budget of $1,500. It was on this project that I collaborated with Darrell Ayer, Le'Asha Julius, Domingo Tavarez, and Sam Reeder.

Ambition is the next project on the horizon. It is bigger in all ways compared to my last short film. More time, care, and detail is required. Once again I am working with many of the great filmmakers from my last project and a few new. This project will present new challenges that will test and strengthen us all and prepare us for what will come next."