Karla Jean Davis

Karla Jean Davis grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, the youngest of five girls. Karla's family encouraged her early interest in writing and drawing. When a fifth grade teacher took notice of her stories, Karla began reading them aloud to entertain her class before recess. One such story, "The Magic Carpet," was adapted to a play that her classmates performed for the entire fifth grade. This was a landmark for Karla, who was ordinarily quite shy around peers. As a young girl, Karla spent most of her time at the library or at home drawing unicorns, writing short stories, and watching old cartoons (she especially liked those of Max Fleischer and the Disney animated features of the 90s). She often performed in musicals and plays at her parent's church. After seeing "Edward Scissorhands" in the sixth grade, Karla quickly announced it to be tied with "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" as her favorite movie of all-time. Karla attended Brookville High School, where she wrote for the yearbook and learned photography. In 1998 before hear senior year, she moved with her parents to Georgia and entered a new high school. There, she presided over the drama club and acted in musicals. Spurred on by a love for music and the moving image, Karla enrolled in Watkins College (Nashville, Tennessee) as a screenwriting/directing major with the intention of making music videos locally. But in the process she fell in love with narrative film, and she soon transferred to back to GSU in Atlanta, completing her film degree in 2004. Her undergrad shorts included "Nosferatu: The Friendly Vampire" and "Holiday Roman." After graduation, she directed several short films. In 2005, she completed a feature-length documentary about fans of the late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, which included their reactions to his apparent suicide (in October of 2003). Karla's narrative work caught the eye of producers Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, who selected her from 12,000 worldwide entrants to compete in the top 50 semi-finalists for the short-lived reality show "On The Lot" (2007). Karla began work 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.