About HAP

President

Mower is an award-winning screenwriter and director who has produced feature films, made-for-television movies, docu-series and commercials for Lifetime/A&E, Amazon, Apple+ and other streaming platforms. Her debut feature film THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER, about a teenage girl who has an affair with the music minister of her father’s church, was picked up by Lifetime/A&E, where it garnered the highest rating of an original movie on LMN in 2012. This success lead to Mower writing and directing three more movies for Lifetime, most recently WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SISTER? (2022). Mower’s independent feature THE NEVER LIST, about an overachieving teenage girl who’s perfectly planned academic life is derailed following the death of her best friend, was accepted into the AMC Indie program and released in 112 movie theaters across the U.S. in December, 2020. The film can currently be seen on PayTV, VOD and AVOD platform and in numerous countries around the world. Mower produced and co-directed DAYNA STEELE: ROCK THE 36TH, a 2018 Amazon docu-series that followed a former rock and roll radio DJ’s run for Congress. The series not only gave Mower the opportunity to interview music legends David Crosby, Joan Jett and Melissa Etheridge, it also led to her producing and directing a political ad for Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC that went viral in May, 2022. Mower is currently in production on the documentary “Cinema Revival” and is developing a limited series titled “Last Dance On the Starlight Pier”.

In 2016, Mower became President and CEO of Imagination Worldwide, an international sales and distribution company based in Los Angeles. For 6 years, the company provided opportunities for talented female filmmakers to get their first feature films distributed both domestically and worldwide. Some of the films distributed by Imagination Worldwide include Amber Tamblyn’s directorial debut “Paint It Black”, starring Alia Shawkat, Alfred Molina and Janet McTeer, and the 2018 SXSW Audience Award-Winning drama “The Light of the Moon”, directed by Jessica M. Thompson (“The Invitation”) and starring Stephanie Beatriz (“Encanto”, “Brooklyn 99”).

Mower received her B.A. in Radio/Television from the University in Houston in 2000. After graduation, Mower went to work for the NBC affiliate as Associate Producer for the morning news program where her primary job was writing news copy. In 2003, Mower left broadcast news to work for Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP), a non-profit media arts organization based in Houston. Her primary function as Program Coordinator was to organize SWAMP’s professional development workshops, youth programs, film screenings, monthly filmmakers salons and special events. Through her work with SWAMP, Mower started “Lights! Camera! Action! Summer Moviemaking Camp” for teens and the annual Business of Film Conference at Rice University. She currently serves on the board of 4th Wall Theatre Company and on the advisory boards for Film Fatales, Houston Community College’s Department of Film and Audio Production, Texas Southern University’s School of Communications and her alma mater University of Houston’s Valenti School of Communications. Mower previously served on the boards of Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP), Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) and Women In Film and Television - Houston (WiFT).   

Vice President  

Ruth Villatoro is a seasoned senior video producer and VP Operations with VISION Production Group.  She has extensive experience in the commercial, corporate, entertainment and new media industry.  She has worked with clients such as Sony Music, Walmart, Amazon Films, Lowe's and Daikin.  Her career began in the entertainment side while working with Grammy winning international music label to help promote artists, create visual content for live concerts and elevate the fan experience.  After years of touring to over 16 different countries, she moved to Houston to work with Lakewood Church to direct and edit their Spanish service.  Houston became her permanent home and she has spent over 20 years working on episodial TV, commercials, corporate and new media content.  Documentaries became a personal passion as she produced several documentaries on social justice issues such as human trafficking, animal welfare and civil uprisings.  She works on many projects alongside her husband, Alan Villatoro, who is a grammy winning music producer, performer and post audio engineer.  

Secretary

A producer, writer, and director, Jenny Waldo’s feature film directorial debut, Acid Test, adapted from her award-winning short, premiered at the Austin Film Festival and was nominated for the Texas Independent Film Award by the Houston Film Critics Society. Experienced in both documentary and scripted storytelling, past credits include associate-producing the indie feature The Preacher’s Daughter which sold to Lifetime and the Starz feature documentary The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing among various shorts, documentary series, and music videos. Her second feature, Martha’s Mustang, is in development and was a Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist and participant of several development labs including the Stowe Story Narrative Lab. A graduate of USC's School of Cinematic Arts with a MFA in Film Production, Jenny educates and advocates for upcoming filmmakers through her consulting, volunteer work, and as a faculty member of Houston Community College’s Filmmaking Program. Specializing in based-on-true stories with personal and intimate films, her latest short, Twofer, premiering at the Houston Latino Film Festival, expands her directing work into the thriller genre!