Tony Mantor's : Almost Live..... Nashville
Tony Mantor talks with entertainment industry people in the U.S. and internationally that have made a mark for themselves.
Conversations with those behind the scenes people that help them achieve their success along with up and coming entertainers as well.
Stories that give a deeper understanding on what it takes to achieve success in the entertainment industry.
Whether listening for entertainment or for tips on how others faced their challenges this has something for everyone.
Tony Mantor's : Almost Live..... Nashville
Susie Singer Carter: From Hollywood to Healthcare Advocacy
Multi-award winning filmmaker Susie Singer-Carter shares her journey from entertainment industry professional to healthcare advocate after her mother's battle with Alzheimer's and experience with nursing home neglect.
• Born and raised in Los Angeles to parents in the music industry, storytelling was always part of her DNA
• Started in journalism at UCLA before transitioning to radio, acting, and forming a music group with Chuck Lorre
• Moved into children's programming and film, working on Saturday morning CBS shows and co-writing movies like "Bratz" and "Soul Surfer"
• Created the Oscar-qualified short film "My Mom and the Girl," starring Valerie Harper, based on her mother's Alzheimer's journey
• Her documentary "No Country for Old People" exposes systemic nursing home neglect after witnessing her mother's mistreatment
• Worked with former federal prosecutor Rick Montcastle to create a comprehensive look at long-term care failures
• Launched the ROAR movement (Respect, Outreach, Advocacy, Reform) to mobilize families for long-term care reform
• Uses her platform to destigmatize Alzheimer's and advocate for better care for vulnerable populations
For more information or to join the movement, visit nocountryforoldpeople.com and learn how to be part of creating change in our long-term care system.
My career in the entertainment industry has enabled me to work with a diverse range of talent. Through my years of experience, I've recognized two essential aspects. Through my years of experience, I've recognized two essential aspects. Industry professionals, whether famous stars or behind-the-scenes staff, have fascinating stories to tell. Secondly, audiences are eager to listen to these stories, which offer a glimpse into their lives and the evolution of their life stories. This podcast aims to share these narratives, providing information on how they evolved into their chosen career. We will delve into their journey to stardom, discuss their struggles and successes and hear from people who helped them achieve their goals. Get ready for intriguing behind-the-scenes stories and insights into the fascinating world of entertainment.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Tony Mantor. Welcome to Almost Live Nashville. Joining us today is Susie Singer-Carter. She's a multi-award winning filmmaker, writer, director, producer, actor, podcast host and caregiver advocate, best known for writing, directing and producing the 2018 Oscar-qualified short film my Mom and the Girl, starring Valerie Harper in her final performance. We will also discuss her documentary no Country for Old People, which won the 2024 Gold Anthem Award for television and film awareness. The film sheds light on nursing home neglect and the systemic health care crisis. She has a tremendous journey to share with us today and we're thrilled to have her here with us. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's my pleasure. I understand that you was born and raised in LA.
Speaker 2:Indeed.
Speaker 1:Is that what led you to get into acting and production of movies?
Speaker 2:I don't know if it was. I mean sure, I guess, because I'm around it. I was around it so it was accessible. But I think being a storyteller not to use that phrase too much but that was always part of me as a little girl, from just wanting to be in the show or make the show or produce the show, whatever write, make stories happen. So I think that was part of who I was. Anyway, and I grew up in a I'm looking at your records behind your head there and your pictures. My dad was in the music industry and so was my mother, so I grew up in the music industry as well.
Speaker 1:Well, that's great Having entertainment in your blood. Well, it doesn't hurt.
Speaker 2:Right Indeed.
Speaker 1:Your next step was college. When you found yourself in college, what direction did you see yourself heading at that point?
Speaker 2:When I went into college I was a little bit more serious. I thought, oh, I'm going to be a journalist. I went to UCLA and I wanted to pivot towards more serious writing and they didn't have a journalism major at UCLA but I did write for the Bruin and I majored in communications and I minored in linguistics and got my FCC license and thought I was going to be a radio announcer, disc jockey, and I started that career in Ridgecrest, california, with my own show and it was boring as hell and I was like I don't want to be alone in a studio doing no, I didn't like it. It wasn't fun At the time. It was just really depressing reading news and it didn't seem like I was using what I could do to the best of my abilities. I don't think I was using it right. So I'm getting out of news and I'm going to figure out another way to channel my creativity.
Speaker 1:When I was in school I did radio as well. After a while I decided I'm going back to my music. That's what I really love to do, so I totally get what you say there, Uh-huh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what kind of music do you do?
Speaker 1:Well, at first I was a singer songwriter, pop singer, just trying to record and just do like everyone else does.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Then my producers were getting ready to retire so they talked me into moving to Nashville and doing what they do. So I produce people like Jackie Wilson's son, Bobby Glenn Campbell's daughter, Debbie Donnie, Most of Happy Days, and several other country people that I've been fortunate enough to have hit records with, so it was a good move.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Yeah, wow, what a legend, glenn Campbell right. What a legend.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, great singer, great entertainer.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, he had Alzheimer's, like my mother and you know both of them having their music be their, their cognitive reserve and watching the documentary on him, I Am Me was so fantastic because you got to see that cognitive reserve of the music that remains. Final tour was really beautiful.
Speaker 1:It was a tough thing. He had a lot of issues and unfortunately had a lot of problems. You hate to see anyone that has that kind of talent, that kind of energy, that kind of world-renowned acceptance with their music just unfortunately fade away like that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. What was the well, I'm drawing a blank on the group that he was that where they did you know that, the little small group of people that were the actual musicians on records?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're talking about the Wrecking Crew.
Speaker 2:The Wrecking Crew right. My parents my dad, was an engineer and an innovator of sound, so my parents, you know, were well aware of all the people in the Wrecking Crew and it's such an interesting story. And that documentary also was incredible. He was a musician's musician.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So once you got out of radio, is that when you started getting to writing scripts and your acting career?
Speaker 2:I started acting. I did a little bit of print work because I'm not a tall supermodel I'm 5'4" but I did a lot of you know it's photogenic. So I did print work and got into commercials and then started writing. Pretty soon after that I actually had a musical group.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:This is a great side. I had a group called Two Chicks that was produced by Chuck Lorre, the writer Chuck Lorre. This was before he was the Chuck Lorre, but he was trying to be a musician himself and he was a good little songwriter. He was writing commercial jingles and things like that and he had a band, but he wasn't really pulling it off and his lead female singer was in an acting class with me and he threw the two of us together. We had a great chemistry and I'm looking at my CD, which is a compilation album called Tales from the Rhino. We were on Rhino Records.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and we were called One Hit Wonders and we had a song called Bad Dreams in Hollywood that Chuck Lurie wrote At the time. It was in the late 80s and he produced a video for us, a music video that at the time was like high-end, it was like over $100,000. We had green screen and we did. You know, it was like high-end and it was way 80s and if you want to Google it on YouTube, it's there folks, but it's so kitschy and fun and you know, really, really, just you know it's Chuck Lorre.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun, and it's always great to look back at your body of work and it gives you a perspective on your journey, on how you got to where you are today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's like you continue to find new purpose that makes sense to the stage of life that you're in, right, and you grow out of other things and you move on. You've done that, been there, done that. You start finding things that really resonate with you and as I've been doing, as I go along, when I stopped acting and went strictly into writing and development, I started in the children's programming because I love kids and I'm basically 13 years old always in my head, you know and so I started on Saturday morning CBS. I did two series for them back to back, and then got hired to write the movie Bratz for Lionsgate. I associate produced that, which was a hoot and so much fun and you know, live action, realizing dolls that my daughters didn't play with but I thought were the coolest dolls ever because they dressed so cool. I basically dressed like them. So I was a young mom, so I just enjoyed the hell out of it and there went and co-produced and did the final draft of a really nice movie called Soul Surfer.
Speaker 1:Yes, I remember that movie.
Speaker 2:Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and became the champion surfer, and so it's a movie of resilience and fortitude and faith and all those great things, and so it's really, really satisfying and valid to do those kinds of stories right.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. Then you got a chance to work with Valerie Harper, correct?
Speaker 2:Ah, heaven on earth. Valerie Harper is somewhere, an angel, and we walked into our lives and read my script, my Mom and the Girl, which I wrote based on my mom's short film. That was about a day in the life of her with Alzheimer's, the year that she lived with me, and I really wanted to show this beautiful story. That was true, an unexpected story that really showed me that it took the stigma and my fear of this disease and it taught me so much about living with a degenerative disease like this, because it is a long, long disease it can be. You might as well enjoy it and you might as well find the gifts that are in it and there are plenty to be found. So we called it A Joyous Look at Alzheimer's. It's called my Mom and the Girl and Valerie.
Speaker 2:It was her last performance man. She just did an incredible job. It was my first directorial and I couldn't have been directing anyone better and played by Liz Torres. If you know Liz, she started way back on All in the Family. I didn't watch the Gilmore Girls, but she's famous from the Gilmore Girls. Anywhere we went, people would be because she played the dance teacher. Everyone knows her from the Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. What a great person to have on a project that you're working on.
Speaker 2:What a force. She's had a career and still works. Yeah, so I was very fortunate and we told a beautiful, funny, heartwarming, eye-opening story and we were Oscar qualified. We went to Cannes, we won awards we were EBS Fine Cuts Award and I said, okay, I'm really enjoying doing something that makes a difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that is so true. At a young age you're hustling, trying to get the accolades, get everything to build your career. Then at some point something just happens and the light switch goes on. You feel really good about what you've done and what you're doing, but when you're doing something that helps others, it has a feeling of accomplishment that the other work just doesn't have.
Speaker 2:Right, that's so true.
Speaker 1:So that ultimately led you to the movie that you're working on now, correct?
Speaker 2:Yes, it did. It did in this way. We have just finished, or we're in very final polishing stages in terms of sound mixing, which you'll appreciate, you know. So it's in the hands of our amazing sound mixer. It's a documentary called no Country for Old People. It's a very important documentary that is based on the last six months of my mother's life in 19, 19,. Hello, what world are we in in 2022? I'm thinking of her birth date.
Speaker 2:It was right in the throes of COVID and we had such a harrowing six months. I was literally in a crisis situation, playing whack-a-mole, trying to advocate for my mom in a system that I had no idea was broken, because Gwen talks about it Even being there, loving my mom, one of my favorite people in the whole world you know I won't talk about Glenn Campbell being this incredible force that was my mom as well five foot tall and could own a room and had more game with men in a wheelchair at 89 than I have ever had in my life. I mean, that's just. She just had that thing that you know joie de vivre with people, and just authentic and real and funny, and so I was there.
Speaker 2:I ended up like stopping everything I was doing. I put her on a hold because she needed me. We were at a five-star facility here in Los Angeles and I thought when I got her in there hallelujah, I can sleep at night. She's to be well taken care of. And unfortunately the opposite was true and unfortunately since then I have learned that is the standard of care in our country. For the most part. There are some good places, but they are sadly the outliers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I had a friend. His wife was promoted to covering a lot of nursing homes around the state. She thought it was going to be a gravy job. Then she found out that it really wasn't Some of the stories she told him and then he relayed to me. It was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2:It is unbelievable, it truly is unbelievable. And you know, to simplify it, it really simplify it. It's criminal, it's based on greed. There's corporations that have found a way to game the system, and it wasn't hard because there's not a lot of oversight or real oversight, there's performative oversight and performative enforcement at best. And then there's a lot of egregious suffering, needless suffering, going on, and it's all because of greed and no one's looking. And that greed it's in human nature, right, we'll always be fighting greed.
Speaker 2:The problem with nursing homes and elders and people with disabilities, vulnerable people, voiceless people. As a public, we've turned away from community and become more individualistic, right? And so we are fearful of growing old, we're fearful of illness, we're fearful of disability, and so we do la, la, la, la la. I'm guilty too. Listen, I didn't want my mom to die or get old. In fact, she broke our pact because she told me that doesn't happen. We're not doing this. That's for other people. But nobody wants it. But hey, you know what, like my mom used to say, I'd say mommy, how are you today? She'd say I'm great, I'm alive. The alternative sucks. So people for the most part want to live, whether they're in a wheelchair, whether they lost their ability to articulate vocally. People don't want to die and they deserve to live the way that they should live, to the best of their ability, until they decide to go.
Speaker 1:So, without giving too much information about the movie, what are some of the things that you came across? That was like you just kind of looked at yourself and said what just happened here.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, it was, it was. What world am I in? Am I going crazy? Because every day I would go to see my mom and something else was happening. That wasn't just a little thing. It wasn't like oh hey, she doesn't like applesauce and you're only giving her applesauce.
Speaker 2:Oh, we're talking about stage four bed sores, sepsis keeping a G-tube in to feed her because they didn't want to take the time to feed her when she could eat on her own, and restricting any kind of oral gratification. For six months my mom was not allowed to have water in her mouth, except when I went, and they would only let me allow me to give her, you know, with a sponge, like putting a sponge in water or juice and letting her suck on it like a baby. I would only wake up when I would do that, because what else do you have in your life at that age? But eating and love, and you know, interaction. Eating is a brainstem, you know, thing that we do. It is so important in our lives. You know, when you strip people of every joy, it's like being in solitary confinement. It's what we do to criminals and that's what's happening.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's pretty sad. So you said your mother had Alzheimer's. How was her mind? Did she remember you? Was she in and out? How was that going for her?
Speaker 2:Well, my mom, you know, listen, every Alzheimer's patient. They progress differently, although there are similarities. Right, my mom? We had a great relationship and I, because I became an advocate for Alzheimer's and I became a spokesperson and I have a podcast called Love Conquers All's ALZ, and I wanted to keep the conversation of, you know, destigmatizing and de-ableismizing, whatever the word is. I just made that up, taking away the ableism that's attached to it. I know a lot about Alzheimer's and I know a lot of experts who have taught me well. So my mom never forgot who I was. I never tested her.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't go in and go hey, do you know who I am? I knew, she knew who I was, so I helped her out. Every time I walked in the room I would say, hello, it's your daughter here, your favorite daughter, Susie, because I'm your only daughter, but let's forget about that. And I would make her laugh. She knew right, she knew who I was. And then, out of nowhere, I just learned so much about Alzheimer's. So I knew how to communicate with my mom. Allow her to process what I'm saying, Like you're hearing me, and processing it right away.
Speaker 2:If I was to talk to my mom, I would say hi, mommy, how are you? And I'd wait, and I'd wait and I'd say you're looking for the words, aren't you? And she'd squeeze my hand and then, out of nowhere, she'd go. I love you and I go. I know what's not to love and make her laugh. You know what I mean, and I think that's what we have to do. We have to lean into their world. To answer your question was she progressing with her Alzheimer's? Yes, of course, but was she ready to check out at that time when they decided they were done taking care of her?
Speaker 1:No, Right, right. So how did the time frame with your mother coincide with the time frame that you started doing the documentary?
Speaker 2:Well, so January 17th, 2022, my mom went into the hospital, as I said, with a stage four bed sore which, by the way, folks, if you're listening to this and you don't know what it is, you think bed sore. I didn't know what it was. They are horrifying to this and you don't know what it is, you think bed sore, I didn't know what it was. They are horrifying. And a stage four is the worst stage and that is what CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, deem as a never event and the hallmark of neglect. No bed sore should get past a stage one. If they see a red mark starting, they should be on it. To get it to stage four means that is neglect and it is the cause of horrible, horrible things in the body. So, as things were getting worse and worse and worse I want to say about three quarters into our journey the six month journey, because she died on July 17th in 2022.
Speaker 2:I had Rick Moncastle, who is a former federal prosecutor, who you might know from the miniseries on Hulu called Dope Sick. It's about the OxyContin crisis and it was about the two prosecutors who went after Purdue Pharma to prosecute them. It starred Michael Keaton as the doctor and then Peter Sarsgaard plays Rick Montcastle in the miniseries and the last episode talks about their next case. Guess what? It's another pharmaceutical and that was against Abbott Labs for off-marketing this drug called Depakote to nursing homes to chemically restrain their residents. So when you see people that look like the living dead, it's because they're drugged, because it's easier to take care of them.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's sad.
Speaker 2:My mother was put on Depakote and I didn't know. For months I thought she was progressing with her Alzheimer's and she went from this vibrant, healthy, physically healthy person to an incontinent, immobile person from that Depakote. And when I got her off of it I got some of her cognitive ability back, but never her ability to walk or to be continent, but never her ability to walk or to be continent. Rick Mottcastle prosecuted Abbott Labs and got a what was it? A $1.5 billion judgment, but yet it still goes on. I had him on our podcast to talk about chemical restraining and when I talked to him about what was going on with my mother, he was the first one to tell me you know, you're not dealing with just your situation. This is a national systemic crisis.
Speaker 2:It turns out he was prosecuting nursing homes for over two decades federally for fraud and abuse and he said he has never seen any change, even though he might win a case. They were one-offs. He was just my luck happening to be retiring in 2022. And he threw his hat in the ring and said I would like to help you with this documentary. I didn't know what I was going to do with my 15 minutes of fame, but now I do. I couldn't have been luckier because I had this incredible person who had been in the trenches, the government side and understanding really the business model, and could vet everything. So everything we did is incredibly comprehensive, corroborated and fact, so we started to work on it shortly after my mom passed away.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you've been doing your podcast, you've been doing everything you can to let people know that you're going to support Alzheimer's.
Speaker 2:And nursing home reform.
Speaker 1:Okay, including nursing home reform. That's awesome. So, with that said, you put your name out there, you throw it out on the wind and you never know where that wind is going to take it, where it's going to land. Have you found that? Your name's getting out there and people are finding you. They tell you their stories. Then you sit back and realize, wow, this is really working the way I hoped it would.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, absolutely More than I could have imagined. More than I could imagine, I mean the first time. You know, we raised all the money ourselves through a fiscal sponsor, which was the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, who gave us a 501c3 status so we could offer tax deductions. Last year, when we were just in the middle of production, we brought an extended trailer to show at their conference, which was filled with advocates and ombudsmen from the nursing home industry and proponents, owners, everybody, and we got a standing ovation and a room full of tears saying thank you, thank you, thank you for showing the truth.
Speaker 1:That's just so great to hear. You know people like you. They have a choice. They can use their platform for better or they can just use their platform for whatever, and you chose to do better. Others they get their 15 minutes. They have the same thing. They can use their 15 minutes to help or not. So, using your platform to help others and expose the truth, I think that's just a real stand-up thing to do and it just shows people exactly who you are.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, thank you. I think that people have asked me isn't it hard, like losing my mom? I still haven't grieved it because I hit the ground running and part of this process has helped me to come to terms with her not being on this earth, also being so proud of her, because there's something so special about her that when she's on screen people love her and people see her soul and see who she is. And so, as hard as it's been for me, I say to people I guess I did it because I knew that I could and I knew that I saw things that I couldn't unsee. And I'm not the kind of girl that's going to go. Okay, I'm done, I got through that. Phew, what chapter's ahead of me? No, I was affected by it and I would be affected by it. What better way to use your talents than to create a better world? What is more happy than that? You can't be rewarded any better than that.
Speaker 1:That's right. When you sit back and look at that body of content that you have in that documentary, then you see the impact that it can and will make. It may not change everything the way that you want it to. It certainly can change people's attitudes towards it and the way they look at it, because there's a lot of people out there going through exactly the same thing that you went through. Now you're helping them get through the crisis they may be going through right now.
Speaker 2:A hundred percent. That's exactly right. I just wrote that in a post yesterday because someone said to me, congratulating on the Anthem Award and this is a woman in Canada, so I mean, this is not unique to America, this is a global situation and she said you have saved me in so many ways that you don't know over the past two years. I said, okay, I couldn't be a more blessed human being. Then if I've saved you for any reason at all and if this documentary does the same for anybody else, then hallelujah.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And another thing is when you do something like this and then you add to your podcast, there's no instant gratification, but if you change one person's path, then it's a win.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I agree with you and you know what? It's interesting. The sound mixer he's an Academy Award winning sound mixer, okay, and somebody recommended him to us and, as I said, we raised all our money by ourselves. We didn't go through corporations because we didn't want blood money. We wanted to do everything on the up and up.
Speaker 2:When he was recommended to us, the person that recommended him said you probably can't afford him, but this is the person that I would work with if I could. So we reached out to this fellow and, yes, indeed, he is very, very out of our league price-wise. I just want to say that after he watched the very rough cut, he called us and he said you know, I don't know how it's going to work and we'll figure this out, but somehow I have to mix this for you because there are projects that come and go, but this project needs to happen and I want to be a part of it. So God bless him and he's worked with us to make it work and you know that's really such a great perspective because you know he goes. Look, I've worked on so many commercial films I don't remember them. This is one that I will remember working on.
Speaker 1:Yes, the beauty of that is there's a difference between just working on something and knowing that working on something has an opportunity to make a change.
Speaker 2:Right, it's like eating dessert and then eating health food. You know what I mean Like what is really good for you and what is really good, tasty and it's fun. Yeah, it's not a lasting, it's just for the moment what you're doing with the other podcast. It will continue to reverberate and it will continue because whatever you do to someone else, they will, in turn, pass that on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly what you're doing is going to affect so many people because they're going to see what you went through and, like you said, it's going to validate some of the things they're going to go through. But the bottom line is that if they see what you're going through, what you went through and how you're attacking it, hopefully it's going to give them the courage to go out there and do the same thing.
Speaker 2:When you're not alone. That's what happened to me when I started talking to people and finding out, oh, this isn't just me, like I'm not crazy. There is a lot of gaslighting that goes on in the system and what you think you see, what you thought you saw, and they're telling you you didn't, you're wrong. And so you start questioning yourself and you think am I wrong, am I misreading? And when you talk to other people and you find out, oh no, they've had the same story, they have the same story. They you're like whew, I'm not alone, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's absolutely true. That's a phrase that I use in my other podcast is that you are not alone.
Speaker 2:We are powerful as people, we need to band together. That's our currency, is our collective. We can't do it alone. We can do it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. How do people contact you?
Speaker 2:We have a website is, which is nocountryforoldpeoplecom. Easy breezy you can watch trailers there and our 25-minute sizzle you can sign up to be on our newsletter so you can find out updates as to when we'll be airing If you want to be a part of our movement, which is ROAR ROAR for Long-Term Care Reform and that stands for. It stands for respect and outreach, advocacy and reform. One of my experts said it took mothers from hell to change mothers against drunk drivers and the disability movement, and it's going to take daughters and family members from hell to change the long-term care system. So if anybody's out there that wants to join me in this sisterhood brotherhood, come to the website, go to the movement tab and let me know where your strengths are and let's do this thing.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been great Great information, great conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time to be with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you, I really appreciate that. You made my day and I really enjoyed talking to you. Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed the show. This has been a Tony Mantor production. For more information, contact media at platomusiccom.