While Jennifer Stolo made her mark in Sacramento as the longtime head of the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s regional chapter, she shifted her wish-fulfillment talents to the big screen nearly three years ago, becoming CEO of Robert Craig Films. 

Films can entertain, but impact films inspire change.”— Jennifer Stolo, CEO & Producer

The Rocklin-based movie-making company — whose feature film about people experiencing homelessness, “No Address,” was filmed in and around the Sacramento region, opened throughout the country late last month — makes what Stolo calls “social-impact” films. “They emphasize the message that films can entertain, but social impact films inspire change.”

It’s been a heady few months for Stolo and the company. Its nonfiction film, “Americans With No Address,” which she calls “a prequel” to “No Address,” just won the Best Documentary Award at the Movieguide Awards. “It was quite the honor — very Oscar-like,” she says. “It took me over a half hour to get down the red carpet with interviews with Fox, Access Hollywood, People Magazine and so many other wonderful outlets. We were the underdog that beat out MGM Studios.”  

Beating the odds has become an unofficial motto for Stolo, 53, who battled cancer a few years ago and has emerged even more energetic than before — and committed to righting social wrongs through her professional and volunteer work (she’s also a sought-after motivational speaker). Leadership, she says, “involves kindness, adaptability and empowering others.” Those “others” include her immediate team of nine as well as hundreds of other contractors, vendors and film professionals in her orbit. 

“It’s not by design, but all of my team members at Robert Craig Films are female,” she says. “Women lead with strength, work with heart and own every responsibility.”

She has high praise for Craig himself, who started making films after a successful manufacturing career as an entrepreneur. He founded the company Gutterglove, creating the huge-selling gutter guard
and its spinoffs.

Married to Keith Diederich, CEO of The Gathering Inn with whom she shares six children, Stolo calls her mom, retired pediatric oncology charge nurse Mary Delaney, “my idol. She taught me that doing hard work is not just a virtue, it’s a privilege.”