Local writer pens new Christmas movie
Carley Smale’s The Christmas Pen Pals airs Dec. 15 on Lifetime and Super Channel
A Peterborough native has written yet another Christmas movie that’ll be airing this holiday season.
Carley Smale wrote the screenplay for The Christmas Pen Pals.
It’ll be on the Super Channel in Canada on Dec. 22 at 8 p.m. and on Lifetime in the United States on Dec. 15 at 8 p.m.
The Christmas Pen Pals is about a woman named Hannah who heads home for the holidays after an unexpected breakup. There, she runs into the high school boyfriend she’s been avoiding for years. At the request of her father, Hannah reluctantly signs up for the town’s Christmas Cupid, an anonymous holiday pen pal service. She’s smitten by each letter she gets and starts to believe her pen pal could be her soul mate. On Christmas Eve, everyone reveals their identities to their pen pals, which could be the last person they’d expect.
The Christmas Pen Pals stars Sarah Drew, Niall Matter and Michael Gross and was directed by Siobhan Devine.
Smale, a Crestwood Secondary School graduate, has written several Christmas movies over the years and made her directorial debut with Cold Season – which she also wrote – in 2015.
She started writing Christmas pieces when she was an intern in Toronto and it was a perfect fit.
“I really love Christmas time and have always loved Christmas movies and rom-coms, so it’s really fun for me,” Smale said.
The 28-year-old is also involved in an annual Christmas Concert at The Venue. This year, it takes place on Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. The Paper Shakers and Kate Suhr will perform. The event is pay-what-you-can and proceeds go to The Warming Room.
Smale left Peterborough in 2009 to study media at Humber College. She later worked as a writer and director of deveopment at Chesler/Perlmutter Productions.
The former James Strath Public School student has now branched out on her own and freelances under Integral Arts.