MÄDCHEN AMICK
Founder / President

After 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 big city of Los Angeles 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, cast her in the TV cult classic Twin Peaks as ‘Shelly Johnson,’ a role developed specifically for her. A role she reprised in Showtime’s revival Twin Peaks: The Return.

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: Hotel - just to name a few - Mädchen has begun honing her skills as a writer/director. Along with multiple short films and music videos - garnering film festival laurels - she has directed several episodes of the hit CW/Netflix show Riverdale, to which she also stars in the feisty role of ‘Alice Cooper.’ With 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. As well as, just completing post-production on her feature film directorial debut My Name Is ___ starring the legendary Julia Ormond and Bruce Dern. Her profound real-life experiences have inspired Mädchen to take on brave projects in order to change how mental illness is depicted in Hollywood.

Close to her heart, is her mental health advocacy work around the globe. She’s worked closely with premiere organizations such as NAMI, SAMHSA, The David Lynch Foundation and continues to advocate on Capitol Hill with The Creative Coalition. She’s a longtime global ambassador for Bring Change to Mind - an anti-stigma non-profit spearheaded by Academy Award winner Glenn Close. Because of Mädchen, and her family’s, first hand experience of the inadequacies of our existing mental health care system, they founded the non-profit direct-impact mental health foundation, Don’t MIND Me, with initiatives focused on connecting people to the care they need.

Donations will directly fund; resource technology, education, training, and support services for first responders, those in the mental health field, and the entire family unit supporting someone who is living with a diagnosis. Don’t MIND Me will also provide long term scholarship programs for individuals who are in need of mental health treatment and wouldn’t otherwise have the means to receive it.