Carley Smale grew up in Peterborough, Ontario where she was an avid writer and often wrote movie ideas on cue cards. After buying her first video camera at 17, she went on to make her first short film that later got nominated at the Toronto Student Film Festival. At the age of 19, she decided to move to Toronto and attend Humber College to study Film and Media. She specialized in screenwriting and upon graduating, immediately got hired as a development associate and writer for TV movies.