Blonde, attractive and warmly friendly, Tonya S. Holly is as easy to know as the neighbor next door. Unlike the neighbor next door, her name is listed in IMDB, Internet Movie Database, one of the complete catalogs of films, television shows, actors, writers, directors and producers.

Resident of Muscle Shoals, a University of North Alabama graduate, Tonya Holly already has 17 films to her credit:

Toy Soldiers, Lakota Moon, Blue Sky, Out on a Limb and The Tuskegee Airmen are on her IMDB resume.

Much of her career has been spent in New York, Los Angeles and on location in several states. She began her acting experience in Los Angeles with the American Film Institute and worked with the Beverly Hills Playhouse for Actors in 1991. To gain experience, she did it all:

actress, production assistant, casting assistant, casting director and even building sets.

But her career goal was producer/director/writer. Both her mother and father are songwriters and writing, she said “is who I am.” Having found success in her goal, Holly is becoming known as a spokesperson/advocate for Alabama’s film industry.

“We have everything we need here and films are a great tool for economic growth.”

Her current production is “When I Find the Ocean,” starring Louis Gossett Jr. and Naomi Judd. It is written by Holly, who says she wrote it about her roots and to showcase the natural beauty of the state.”

She has written other films, among them The Mirror, an award-winning short film she also directed. The film also was awarded Best Film in the Homegrown Category at Birmingham’s 2003 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and the top award at the Chicks with Flicks in New York City.

She is actively involved with the Alabama Film Commission, Film Commission of Northwest Alabama and the George Lindsey Film Festival and in1991 she founded Alabama Filmmakers Association. She is married to Kelvin Holly, lead guitarist with Little Richard’s band. They have two daughters, Lily and Abby, and her stepson Kyle.

After plans to produce “When I Find the Ocean,” Holly began what she laughingly terms “sneaking into Selma,” deciding on shooting locations and looking for an appropriate building to serve as an office and a place for costuming, make-up and all the many requirements in preparing to film.

These recent quiet visits were not her first to the city, however. “I was pregnant with Lily the last time I was here, making “Body Snatchers” and suffering from morning sickness. Lily Matland Holly is now 12 and will star in “When I Find the Ocean,” at her request, Holly laughs.

“We were getting ready to search for a little girl to fill the part and Lily demanded that she be given a chance to read. She was great so she got the part.”

Starring in the film is Louis Gossett Jr. who won best supporting actor in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” and whose career highlights include “Raisin in the Sun.”

Naomi Judd and Kris Kristofferson also have starring roles in the film, which feature Natalie Canerday and a soap opera star, David Shark Fralick of “The Young and the Restless.”

The film will also feature lots of animals, including the star dog, Andy, a Golden Retriever coming from Los Angeles; a black panther and a rabbit named Andrew. When Holly was here filming “Body Snatchers” she rescued up a stray Golden puppy from the rain, named him Joey and gave him to her mother. He is now 15 years old.

“When I Find the Ocean” is an independent film, a growing trend in the industry, according to Holly, who laughs about turning down a part in “Forrest Gump” and in “Sling Blade.” But they were just the beginning of independent films. One of the best known is “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Star Wars.”

Holly wrote the script, and it’s a lot like me, she says. She is looking forward to filming in Selma. “We have never been treated better. The city has opened its arms to us.”

At present the company is setting up the production office, putting together information for volunteer extras – perhaps as many as 500-1000 – and doing it all in a relatively short time. The film will be shot in three locations, The Shoals, Selma and the Alabama Gulf Coast. Filming in the Shoals is planned for Feb. 27-28 and in Selma for early March.

The film completion goal is for mid-fall release. After that, Holly’s company has more 10 films planned, including “Decoration Day,” “The Chocolate is Under the Bed,” a Civil War story “When I Come Home,” and “Trail of Tears.”

Meanwhile she continues to campaign for tax incentives for films in Alabama. “We just got a sponsor for Alabama at American Film Market in Santa Monica, California, the largest independent film maker in the world. People go there to buy and sell a product, their film. It’s a great incentive program. We learned that 200 film makers are interested in scouting Alabama.

“We must pass tax incentives for films in this state.”