I am an award-winning filmmaker, mother, daughter, and brand-new Ga-Ga. Like most caregivers, I was thrust into my new role without warning and without the skills I needed to care for someone with Alzheimer’s. And it could not have come at a worse time. (Is there ever really a good time?) I had just gone through a particularly difficult divorce that left her to raise her young teenaged daughter while attempting to fan the flame on her career as an up and coming filmmakers at the same time. All this led to an unexpected gift. A beautiful story that changed how I looked at my Mother’s disease. It was so profound that I decided to share her story with the world and hopefully impact other caregivers to change the perspective.
Well, it did! I received an outpouring of positive reaction from audiences all over the world as well as the entertainment industry after writing, producing, directing, and acting in her first short film, MY MOM AND THE GIRL starring Valerie Harper (RHODA) and Liz Torres (GILMORE GIRLS). The film is based on my Mother, Norma, who has been living with Alzheimer’s for 16 years now. My Mom and the Girl, coined a “joyous look at Alzheimer’s”, screened at over 50 film festivals worldwide earning dozens of major awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress. Best Ensemble, to name a few) as well as an Oscar's qualified status.
My Mom and The Girl has worldwide distribution and is available on iTunes Google, and KCET/PBS‘s Fine Cuts Program. The film is endorsed by Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles and UsAgainstAlzhiemer’s and was the centerpiece of a national Mother’s Day campaign with both organizations and ShortsTV
I served as one of the faces seen in several Alzheimer’s awareness campaigns for Alzheimer’s Los Angeles where she also trained to be a volunteer speaker.
After traveling the film festival circuit where she “hugged and cried with more strangers in one year than in my whole life”, Susie knew she needed to continue the conversation she had started. She wanted to help more people reframe how they look at Alzheimer’s and Dementia and decided to launch the podcast, LOVE CONQUERS ALZ…Thanks so much in advance for your help!
xoSusie
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