Cows R Out Productions

Rhonda Villanova has a background in Theatre that includes Acting, Costume, Dance, Set and Light Design.  She also has experience in Fashion Design, Photography, Media and Graphics, and Multimedia Video Direction. She earned a BFA at the University of Connecticut, studied Acting at the Lee Strasburg Theatre Institute in New York City, and continuing education courses at Manchester Community College. She has been a freelance actress for the past 25+ years, working in film, television, radio and theatre. She has designed furniture and toys with her husband, John, was an Acting teacher with the Performing Arts Programs in South Windsor, Connecticut, and designed three classes to teach for Ellington Middle School's after school program: Cooking, Acting and Sewing. She has also worked within the community of Ellington as a Cultural Arts Chairperson, PTO Board member and volunteered for community and charity causes.

Darlene Villanova has a background in Communications that includes Media and Writing.  She has experience in Acting and Directing. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America and won the Gustoff Writer's Award for Best Satirical Essay and Best Dramatic Story while at Manchester Community College. She became a member on the Communication Advisory Committee at Manchester Community College and an Annual Judge for the Manchester Community College Annual Film Festival after earning an Associates degree. She earned a BS at Eastern Connecticut State University and studied Acting at the Lee Strasburg Theatre Institute in New York City. Darlene has worked as a freelance actress for the past 25+ years in film, television and radio; and most recently worked as an Acting teacher for the Performing Arts Programs in East Windsor, Connecticut. 

John Villanova has a background in Theatre that includes Puppetry, Acting, Costume, Lighting, Set Design, and Directing.  Having performed in many puppetry productions at the University of Connecticut under the tutelage of Frank Ballard, he won the National Puppetry Institute Award for Achievement in his last year.  John is a member of the Connecticut Guild of Puppetry. He was the first person to direct and edit for Brand X/Cows R Out Productions, working on videos for training paralegals at Aetna, Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut for Ronald Villanova.  The videos eventually became textbooks that were released not too long ago from Llumina Press.

Together, Rhonda, Darlene and John created Brand X Productions (now known as Cows R Out Productions). Early works include parodies of movie trailers, exaggerated versions of every day events and twisted reimaginings of things that may or may not be true. Their first venture longer than 10 minutes was Darlene's project in her film class at Manchester Community College; the 1st story from Letters to Uncle Fred, "In the Beginning."  At 35 minutes, it was entered as a video short into competition with other students.  It went on to win the Manchester Community College Best in Fest Award for Film and the Connecticut Higher Education Award for Film Producing and Direction. Since that project, there has been a Tai Chi training video, creating a video for a non-profit organization showing the consequences of drinking and driving, producing an interview with up and coming singer, Darryl Raymond, brother of pop star Usher and writing of new projects.  "LTF: The Mill" was five years in the making. "Life as Nin" was in line waiting its turn along with a couple of music videos and children's stories that are only now getting their turn at bat.  There's always something else that we want to do.  We hope to continue bringing new and different ideas to fruition on video and now YouTube.