She was employed at the Hartford Public Library during 1900–03, where she began writing movie scenarios during her spare moments.

[5] In February 1914, she was one of the co-founders of the Photoplay Authors League – a precursor of the Screen Writers Guild[6] – and during the first year of operation was elected vice president and a member of the board of control.

[8] During her first year, she edited A Daughter of the Gods, Hollywood's first film with a million dollar budget,[1] and, listed as H.G.

[9] She was the editor for Queen of the Sea (1918) starring Annette Kellerman,[9] and The Iron Horse (1924), directed by John Ford.

[9] By 1938, Hettie was a movie executive, serving as censor representative for Twentieth Century Fox.