We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Contrina Jenkins. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Contrina below.

Alright, Contrina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

If I could go back in time I would have started my creative career sooner. I didn’t start producing stage plays & films till I was in my late 30’s. Sometimes I feel like I’m playing catch up to everyone else. But at the same time, things happen on God’s time, not ours. If I was to go back and start sooner things wouldn’t be the same. I wouldn’t have the same team as I have now and it’s a strong possibility I wouldn’t value the lessons I’ve to learn to get me to this point.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a screenwriter, playwright, director, and producer. I have an independent production company JalaWorld Productions that was created in 2010. I wrote and produced 3 stage plays Karma, Love Is, and Forever Yours. I have written, directed, and produced 4 films Love Is, Pipe Dreams, Definition of Manhood, and Fair Play. I’m currently in the process of working on a new film “Plain Sight.” I’m also a poet and an event planner. I’ve recently have become a certified life coach. I’m very proud of my work. I try to create productions that people can relate to and learn from. I love creating and telling stories.
My proudest moment is that my children are able to see all the hard work I put into making my dreams come true. They have a front-row seat to see that anything is possible with hard work, faith, and a good team. Talent is great but God, teamwork, and hard work is the key.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the rewarding aspect is the ability to touch someone’s heart with your work. I find so much joy when someone is inspired by what I’ve written or they can relate to it. We did a play called Forever Yours, one of the actor’s closest friends came to the play after losing a loved one that same day. He said for two hours he was able to forget his pain and laugh.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being an independent artist can be extremely difficult sometimes. In the beginning, you are using your own money to fund your projects. It was so many times I would become frustrated and want to walk away because of financial challenges. It was so many times I didn’t know how I was going to pay for things including my ow personal bills. At the beginning of 2021 I was on the verge of giving up because I was financially struggling and on the verge of losing so many things but God made a way. I have been receiving blessings after blessings. We received two distributions deals with our film Pipe Dreams and Fair Play. Our new film Plain Sight is being financed. And we have so many other great things in the works.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jalaworld.com
• Instagram: jalaworld
• Youtube: Jalaworld Productions

Image Credits
Logo by Courtney Elaine Designs