A decade ago the world was introduced to Nev Schulman when we learned his online romantic relationship with a young woman on Facebook turned out to be with someone who had created a deceptive, fake social media profile. Thus the concept of Catfishing was born. A Sundance Film Festival documentary and 8 MTV seasons later, Nev Schulman continues to travel America helping guests encounter the truth and lies of online dating. On this episode of The Courageous Podcast, we discuss what information Nev receives prior to interacting with guests, what new doors might present themselves after Nev’s recent success on Dancing With the Stars and whether or not Nev sees his journey as courageous — or something else. https://lnkd.in/dYXsXvv
4:55 - The Baja 1000 and how Berman meet Nev
6:36 - Van Neistat and the party starters
7:45 - Photojournalism and dancing
8:43 - The 10 year anniversary of Catfish the documentary
9:33 - How the documentary came to life
10:27 - The start of point and shoot content
11:40 - The process of finding out the truth...and filming it
13:31 - "Empathy didn't come naturally for me...most of my actions are motivated by selfishness"
14:37 - New York city upbringing has conditioned me to be head-strong, impulsive, and say yes to things...very little room for time and hesitation as a New Yorker
15:12 - That's my operating system...absolute efficiency
15:56 - "I'd never come face to face with a person who's experience was so different from mine...almost incomprehensibly difficult."
17:29 - "I got reinvented as a 27 year old by that experience and the film of that experience...I had to back into that and learn to be a more compassionate and empathetic person"
18:56 - The most meaningful takeaway for the people who come on the show...is they feel as though they have been seen and heard..and think about themselves for the first time...
21:05 - How Catfish gets guests to come on the show
23:46 - "everyone says, they need closure..."
24:32 - Dancing with the Stars experience
28:32 - "Felt great to close the chapter and open a new one on my love and passion for dance..."
28:52 - Pivoting in Hollywood is difficult...reinvention
33:13 - "I don't think people come on the show seeking the truth...they know deep down what is happening...they need this experience to finally free themselves from this relationship they know isn't good for them.."
34:11 - Forced to confront a scary truth...the person they are in love with is lying to them.
34:39 - Technology and this generation
34:52 - "Everyone has become so public...everything has become so easy to access and share...very little privacy in the world today..."
35:31 - "People are looking for a tiny little pocket of life they can escape into that doesn't show up in anyone's news feed"
37:29 - Selfish gets a bad rap. What if selfishness is nothing more than you have total clarity of what you like?
38:09 - 3 words to describe Nev
40:35 - "I want to win...to do things that make me happy and feel good"
41:42 - Part of what makes me, me and what makes me successful is this weird tunnel vision focus I have for things
42:56 - "You have a good thing and you kinda want to let it keep going..."
44:38 - Learning how to make decisions that now involve and affect my family is scary and tough
45:14 - "It doesn't have to be perfect."
45:41 - "Better to have done that, than not"