Chanel Capra was born and raised in New York City. When she was 13, her brother Francis Capra was cast in A Bronx Tale (1993) and her family became involved in the film industry. In New York, she interned at The Shooting Gallery (while hoping to attend NYU's film school), but when her family, her mother Ann Marie Capra and her siblings, relocated to Los Angeles for her brother's career, she instead attended a screen writing program at the Writer's Boot Camp.