MÄDCHEN AMICKActress / Producer / Director / WriterAfter growing up in the arts, at the age of 16, Mädchen negotiated with her parents to allow her to leave her small town of Reno, NV, and move to the bright lights of Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, to which they agreed.  Shortly thereafter, director David Lynch, who ended up playing a pivotal role in her career and became her mentor, cast her in the TV cult classic ‘Twin Peaks’.  She was cast as Shelley Johnson, a role developed specifically for her.  A role she reprised just recently in the Showtime revival.Never one to rest on her laurels, after a long and successful acting career in other award-winning projects such as; Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers, Dream Lover opposite James Spader, Screen Gem’s post-apocalyptic thriller Priest, ER, Damages, Mad Men and American Horror Story - just to name a few - Mädchen has begun honing her skills as a director. Along with multiple short films and music videos - garnering film festival laurels including a Best Director Award at the IFS Festival - she has directed several episodes of the hit Netflix / CW Network television show ‘Riverdale’, to which she also stars in as the feisty Alice Cooper.Close to her heart is her mental health advocacy work around the globe. She’s worked closely with premiere organizations over the years such as; NAMI, SAMHSA, The David Lynch Foundation and The Creative Coalition - to which she has lobbied for at Capitol Hill several times - as well as being the first global ambassador for Bring Change to Mind a non-profit spearheaded by Academy Award winner Glenn Close. Although she’s enjoyed helping to break the stigma surrounding mental illness, it just wasn’t enough for her and her family who have been directly impacted by the inadequacies of our existing health care support services. In 2020 they launched a non-profit direct-impact mental health foundation ‘don’t MiND me’ that will take immediate action to match people in need to essential treatment services — dontmindme.orgWith several projects in development; she recently produced and directed the documentary ‘Behind The Curtain’ which takes a closer look at all aspects of mental health, from diagnosis and treatment to big pharma and politics. Currently in post-production on her first feature film directorial debut ‘Reminisce’, a beautiful story about surviving trauma and finding your way toward recovery, she hopes to continue her work in Hollywood to change how mental illness is depicted in film and television.