Born in Dallas, Kelly Holland's career has been diverse: Starting out as an audio engineer and theater actress, she moved on to direct political documentaries in war zones of Central America as a freelance journalist. In the early 1990s, she started writing, producing and directing many best selling adult films and eventually bought and became CEO of Penthouse Global Media in 2016. Beside her work in film, she is an advocate of animal rights, founding a no-kill shelter and sanctuary in Chatsworth in 2011.
[about starting to work in the adult film business, quoted in LA Times] "I realized porn was the most disruptive, renegade, anarchic propaganda that you can engage with."