Karla Jean Davis, the youngest of five sisters, grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, where her family nurtured her early passion for writing and drawing. A fifth-grade teacher took notice of her stories and encouraged her to read them aloud to her classmates, which led to the adaptation of one of her stories, "The Magic Carpet," into a play performed by her classmates. This experience was significant for Karla, who was typically shy around her peers.
As a young girl, Karla spent most of her time at the library or at home, where she drew unicorns, wrote short stories, and watched old cartoons, particularly those of Max Fleischer and Disney animated features from the 1990s. She also performed in musicals and plays at her parents' church. After seeing "Edward Scissorhands" in the sixth grade, Karla declared it her favorite movie, tied with "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure."
Karla attended Brookville High School, where she wrote for the yearbook and learned photography. Before her senior year, she moved with her parents to Georgia and entered a new high school, where she became involved with the drama club and acted in musicals.
Karla's love for music and the moving image led her to enroll in Watkins College in Nashville, Tennessee, as a screenwriting/directing major, with the intention of making music videos locally. However, she soon fell in love with narrative film and transferred back to Georgia State University in Atlanta, completing her film degree in 2004. Her undergraduate shorts included "Nosferatu: The Friendly Vampire" and "Holiday Roman."
After graduating, Karla directed several short films. In 2005, she completed a feature-length documentary about fans of the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, which featured their reactions to his apparent suicide in October 2003.
Karla's narrative work caught the attention of producers Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, who selected her as one of the top 50 semi-finalists from 12,000 worldwide entrants for the reality show "On The Lot" in 2007.
Karla began working on her first feature-length film in 2006, a nod to the silent era, which she wrote, produced, costumed, and directed. It premiered in Atlanta at The Plaza Theater in 2008.
