Hilltopper Productions
Teresa Wheeler is the Producer and Owner of Hilltopper Productions. She is a Producer and Philanthropist and has supported projects that deal with making the world a better place. She is an Executive Producer of the Film “Music Got Me Here,”that will stream on mainstream services Winter 2020, and of “Just Like Will,’ the documentary about Suicide Prevention. She is the producer of Tom Sweitzer’s one-man show “Meatballs and Music,” and is a main donor and supporter of A Place To Be Music Therapy including supporting a stroke survivor choir – “Different Strokes for Different Folks,” and the animated series “ The Land of Music.” She is also backing the Novel “The Miracle Boy of Baxton, Missouri,” a story about what it means to believe in Miracles, which will be ready for reading Fall of 2021. Teresa has been a crucial board member for many organizations such as; Inova Hospitals, A Place To Be Music Therapy, and 100 Women Strong. She is known as being a community member who brings opportunity to people and organizations with a strong mission and values that lead to making the world a better place. She loves sharing hundreds of flowers from her garden to people that need beauty and loves making masks who want to stay safe.
PROJECTS
MUSIC GOT ME HERE
Documentary
In a freak snowboarding accident, Forrest, age 18, suffers a life threatening traumatic brain injury that leaves him trapped inside himself -- unable to speak or move for nearly two years. Tom, an eccentric music therapist with a troubled childhood, will do anything to get a response from Forrest. He dresses up in costumes and makes up silly songs. For months, Forrest doesn’t even acknowledge him. Then, one day Forrest painstakingly types with one finger on his Dynavox: “Please help me find my voice”. Tom begins by teaching Forrest to breathe...then hum. After many months of painstaking practice, the hums turn into Forrest's first two words. Within weeks, he's singing entire songs and speaking in sentences
20 SECONDS
A One-man Show
Tom Sweitzer, Music Therapist, Writer, Composer and Actor invites you to attend his one man show “20 Seconds” Tom takes us on a journey through his turbulent, colorful yet inspiring childhood. Raised by a dying compassionate Italian Mother and a Schizophrenic Father at age eight Tom runs away from home, lured by the music he hears pouring out from the church window across the street. When the church doors open, he’s met by a Sunday School teacher that changes his life forever. “20 Seconds” is a 90-minute raw look into a man’s life which promises to remind us that we are all human if we only allow ourselves to hear the music
LAND OF MUSIC
Animated Series
Designed for school age children, pre-k – 5th, this six episode animated series will be introduced at the beginning of the school year as a platform for teachers, and families to talk about the continuing COVID-19 situation. The characters take the audience on an educational, inspiring and imaginative journey into The Land of Music.
INOVA STROKE GROUP
Choir
Each Wednesday this group of Stroke survivors meets to sing and socialize. Many of the members deal with Aphasia and other issues resulting from their stroke. We use Music Therapy to work on personal goals and as a tool to bring positive socialization. The group is a family that is always excited to open their arms to new members. No musical talent is needed, just the ability to be a friend and to have fun.
JUST LIKE WILL
In the wake of tragedy, a grieving mother leads a cast of teens in a rock opera about hope.
A WILL TO SURVIVE was a rock opera written in reaction to the loss of a teenager named William Robinson. After Will took his own life, a music therapist named Tom Sweitzer set out to write the rock opera to help encourage teens to reach out for help and support in difficult times. In an astounding act of courage, Will's own mother Ann-Charlotte Robinson agreed to help advise Tom in the writing process and eventually star in the stage production.
Expanding on the award-winning short A MOTHER'S WILL, JUST LIKE WILL is a documentary that follows the cast as they prepare to take the stage for a sold-out performance at the legendary Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The film also interviews the cast and studies the ripple effects of positive change that are set in motion by the rock opera, both in the lives of the cast and in the lives of the audience members.