Board of Directors
Ricky Schroder
President/Director
Ricky Schroder made his Hollywood debut in 1979 at nine years of age as T.J. the emotionally tortured son of a washed-up boxer in The Champ. The performance earned him a Golden Globe® for “New Star of the Year” and launched the beginning of his successful career as an Actor and later in life a Producer, Writer, and Director.
Schroder’s work took him to the front lines in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army to document the longest-running war in U.S. history. The footage he and his team gathered became the 6-part documentary, The Fighting Season for DirecTV's Audience Channel. The success of the documentary lead to a follow-up series, My Fighting Season and most recently, The Volunteers about the Syrian war. He has co-written two screenplays with Kevin Haskin. The first, Mile 0 the true-life story of Navy Seal Veteran, Chris Ring who became the first American to swim the entire distance of the Mississippi River in honor of our country’s Gold Star Families, while facing the demons of his tour in Afghanistan. The second screenplay, Wanat about the deadliest and bloodiest battle since the inception of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Other notable roles and projects include the hit television series Silver Spoons, the television miniseries Lonesome Dove which went on to garner seven Emmys®, a Peabody, ®, and two Golden Globes®. In 1998, Schroder joined the cast of NYPD Blue as Detective Danny Sorenson. Additional television credits include recurring roles on Scrubs and season six of the Emmy® award-winning 24. Some of Schroder’s feature film credits include Crimson Tide, with Denzel Washington; Across the Tracks, with Brad Pitt; and Texas, with Benjamin Bratt. Television movies include A&E’s Emmy®-nominated The Lost Battalion, the Emmy®-nominated miniseries The Andromeda Strain, Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors for NBC in which Schroder plays Robert Lee Parton, and again in Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love which was Nominated for an Emmy in 2017.
Schroder made his directorial debut with the feature Black Cloud. Shortly thereafter, he won a Country Music Award (CMA) and Video Director of the Year for his direction of the music video Whisky Lullaby, sung by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. Schroder also wrote, produced and directed the Hallmark feature OUR WILD HEARTS, which he also starred opposite his daughter, Cambrie, in her first feature film role. He created the “Reality Recruiting Program” for the U.S. Army entitled Starting Strong, which Schroder premiered at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C. where he received the GI Spirit Award and which 34 episodes were produced. It was seen on Fox, History, USA, RFD-TV, All Warrior Network and is now available on YouTube.com.
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Jo Haskin
Treasurer/Secretary/Producer
Award-winning Producer Jo Haskin has produced over 100 hours of film and television content for such networks and distributors as HBO, HBO MAX, Animal Planet, National Geographic, Fox, History, USA, The Travel Channel, HGTV, The Cooking Channel, Hallmark, A&E, AT&T’s Audience Channel and Lionsgate.
Jo and her partner Kevin through their company, KeJo Productions have produced four feature films together. In 2008, Sensored starring Robert Picardo (Star Trek Voyager) and in 2009, Rogue River starring Bill Moseley (Devil’s Rejects) which premiered at Grauman's Mann Chinese Theater at ScreamFest 2010. They also produced two faith-based films, I was Broken and In God We Trust. In 2018, Jo produced the feature film The Divide directed by and starring Perry King which has won 16 festival awards. 2019 she Co-Produced/Line Produced the film, Rushed starring Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Siobhan Fallon Hogan (Holes, New In Town) and in 2023 she was the Co-Producer/Co-Line Producer, for No Address starring Ashanti, Billy Baldwin, Beverly D’Angelo, Xander Berkeley and Lucas Jade Zumann.
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Jo joined Ricky Schroder Productions in 2011 and was the Co-Showrunner for the U.S. Army reality series, Starting Strong and contributed to the second highest rated Hallmark film, Our Wild Hearts directed by and starring Ricky Schroder. She served as the Co-Executive Producer/Line Producer for the documentary series My Fighting Season and The Volunteers which both aired on the Audience Channel.
Most recently she was the Executive in Charge of Production for Jane Doe Films in Los Angeles. Their latest documentary project, Not So Pretty was released on HBO Max on April 14, 2022. Their 2021 project, Allen v. Farrow (HBO) was nominated for 7 Emmy awards.
She currently is the Treasurer/Secretary for Reel American Heroes Foundation.
Steve Kreider
Vice President/Business Development
Steve Kreider, originally from a small town in Northwestern PA called Waterford. He served his country for 25 years, retiring as a First Sergeant in the U.S. Army; He deployed to Iraq in 2004 receiving a Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge for his service. He is a father of two adult children, one currently serving in the U.S. Army in Europe. Steve retired from the Army in 2013 to pursue a career in the film and television industry. His career started with Ricky Schroder Productions on the Army reality show called Starting Strong; He also worked as an associate producer on Duck Dynasty and was also a military consultant and extra on the film Pitch Perfect 3. In 2018, Steve produced and co-hosted a reality show called Flea Market Fanatics which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Steve has collaborated with other veterans who are passionate about Veteran affairs, and the plight of the homeless who served in the Armed Forces. He is very passionate about these causes and has spent countless hours committed to helping homeless Veterans across the country, reconnecting them with family and loved ones. Steve co-founded two non-profits dedicated to ending Veteran homelessness…One in L.A. called the Vet Hunters Project (VetHunters.org) and one in Atlanta called the Shadow Warrior Foundation (ShadowWarriorFoundation.org).
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Steve also owns a mediation firm that mediates civil and family disputes in and out of court. He teaches the 40 Hour Basic Mediation Course and the 30 Hour Family Mediation Course to lawyers, HR managers, real estate agents etc. who want to become professional mediators. Steve has been a professional mediator for almost 5 years in the Texas.
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Steve holds a Master of Science with distinction in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He holds Certificates of Completion from Villanova University in Project Management, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma Green Belt, and is completing his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training.
Steve did not blink an eye when he was asked to join the team at Reel American Heroes Foundation. He brings a wide array of experience from serving in the Army, working in the non-profit world, entertainment industry, and as a mediator. Steve shares the same passion as the rest of the team to commemorate the tireless acts and efforts of American heroes and encourage a fresh resurgence of patriotism.