‘Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda’: Local author gets movie adaptation of book

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — Filming for a movie based on an 88-page romance novella by local author Pam Willis-Hovey is ongoing in Columbus.

SEEMA TV is taking the reins to produce Hovey’s work “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda” about college student Johanna who finds herself having to choose between a wealthy oil tycoon and the man she has secretly been in love with for years.

Hovey remembers pitching her story to SEEMA’s Kelvin Smith at a red carpet event where she was working as a photographer.

“I said, ‘Oh, I wrote a book!’” Hovey said. She continued, “His wife came to my job, picked up the book, read it [and her] husband and her talked about it and here we are.”

The movie is directed by Stacy Cunningham. Shooting is mostly at the Legacy Reserve at Old Town.

Hovey said she chose to show producers the location because she had done photography work there in the past. She said it provided a “one-stop shop” location for filming different scenes in the story; the SEEMA team agreed.

But the story which is now en route to reach SEEMA’s streaming platform by Valentine’s Day 2025, nearly went unpublished. Hovey revealed the manuscript sat unread in her desk for nearly a decade before she started sharing it after noticing that her TSYS day job coworkers were avid readers.

Those who read the book, encouraged her to publish it. Hovey and ghostwriter Elaine Johnson published “Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda” with Cherokee Press.

Now, stars Johnny Avilla, Chelcy Cutwright, Zach Bostrom, Shoko Rice and Tia Streaty play her characters in its movie adaptation.

Hovey encouraged others to chase their dreams.

“That’s what I want to encourage people,” Hovey said. “Please, please, please, please. Whatever you do, no matter how hard it gets, don’t give up.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.