Short's acting debut came as a dancer in You Got Served and appeared in Accepted, starring Justin Long. Recently, he has a lead role in the direct-to-DVD movie Save the Last Dance 2 alongside Izabella Miko, and another lead role in Stomp the Yard. He has also appeared twice in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven as Tre, a member of the fictional Boy band "Boyz n' Motion". Other TV appearances include ER and Judging Amy.

In 2006, he appeared in NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as novice show writer Darius Hawthorne. He was among the presenters at the 2007 NAACP Image Awards.

In 2007, Columbus appeared in the movie This Christmas also starring Chris Brown and Lauren London