Katie Stuart has what many Hollywood movie executives look for. She's young, charming, smart and attractive. And, says producer Laurie Agard, the eighth-grader from Sonora Middle School possesses the most important quality of all: She's not a brat.

Stuart, 13, made her acting debut in Agard's ``Frog and Wombat,'' featured this week at the Santa Clarita International Family Film Festival.

``I went to several schools everywhere looking for some new and young talent,'' Agard said. ``I wanted someone who really could relate to having a real buddy and doing real things. Not your ordinary Hollywood kid.''

Agard calls her film a quirky, female Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn meet ``Rear Window.'' The humorous script begins ominously when, from her bedroom window, Allison ``Frog'' Parker (Stuart) discovers the cover-up of a serious crime.

Her school principal has committed a murder. Or has she? When her best friend, Jane ``Wombat'' Walker (Emily Lipoma), rejects this idea, a brazen Allison sets up outlandish surveillance.

Frog and Wombat are nicknames the two give each other after buying walkie-talkies to communicate.

Stuart said she was excited to have been picked by Agard and that she couldn't hide being nervous for the film's first showing.

``I was very nervous, but the movie came out good and all the others in the film gave me some good tips,'' she said.

She said she maintains a 4.0 grade-point average at school and felt she received valuable acting lessons from her co-stars.

``It was cool and especially good to work with Lindsay Wagner and watch and learn from her,'' she said.

Wagner, who plays Sydney Parker, Allison's mother, in the film, said working with Stuart and the others was an experience she treasures.

``It was a breath of fresh air,'' Wagner said. ``These kids were great to work with and eager to work, as opposed to some sets where the actors are there just to make money and not having any fun.''

Agard, who wrote, produced and directed the film, said she followed her passion to produce ``Frog and Wombat'' independently. The story grew out of her recollection of the trials and adventures she had as a sixth-grader.

``Those were the fun years, and I felt young girls needed a woman hero,'' she said. ``We all were 11 at one time, but do we remember what an intimate world a sixth-grader lives in?''

The film was shot in Agard's hometown of Santa Cruz by her Pigtail Productions, and offers have poured in since it began its run at the film festival last week. Agard said giants Miramax, Disney, New Line and others have called and reviewed the film at the festival.

Along with Stuart and Wagner, the $5 million production also features Ronny Cox (``Deliverance,'' ``Total Recall,'' ``Murder at 1600''), Kristin Rudrud (``Fargo''), teen idol Ross Malinger (``Sleepless in Seattle''), five-time Emmy winner Jean Carroll (``Guiding Light'') and former world heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton.