Inside the Life and New Chapter of Yaniv Schulman: Catfish Star, Family Man, and NYC Real Estate Agent

Basic Information

Early Life and the Camera’s Pull

Born and raised in New York City, Yaniv “Nev” Schulman grew up where every block hums with stories. Photography became his early language. He learned to frame chaos into composition, to capture glances that said more than speeches. Those instincts—to look closely, to ask the quiet question, to wait for the human moment—would later define his work on screen.

He began carving out a path in visual media in his twenties, building a photography and production practice that frequently intersected with his brother, filmmaker Ariel Schulman. Their collaboration would soon ignite a cultural conversation, one that spilled from art-house screenings into the vocabulary of the internet.

The Catfish Phenomenon

In 2010, Catfish—the documentary centered on Nev’s own online relationship—arrived like a flare in the night. It didn’t just tell a story; it gave a name to a modern riddle: when screen-bound intimacy clashes with real-life identity. The film’s blend of intimacy, surprise, and investigative curiosity became a blueprint for a new kind of storytelling.

Two years later, Catfish: The TV Show premiered on MTV (2012), with Nev as host and executive producer. Week after week, he stepped into the digital labyrinth with strangers, consistently treating people like people—subjects as collaborators, not specimens. The series became long-running appointment television, evolving alongside social platforms themselves. It delved into online romances, deceptions, misunderstandings, and the strange poetry of wanting to be seen. In Nev’s hands, each episode played like a detective story with a heart.

A Family in Focus

If Catfish taught a generation to interrogate online identity, Nev’s family life illustrates the offline anchor that steadies him.

• Laura Perlongo — Nev’s wife since July 2017, Laura is a writer-producer and inventive digital creator known for wit and candor. Their partnership has been visible and refreshingly human—equal parts humor, creative collaboration, and shared adventure.
• Cleo James — Their first child, born October 21, 2016. Curious and expressive, Cleo often filters into the family’s snapshots with a philosopher’s gaze and a comedian’s timing.
• Beau Bobby Bruce — Born January 9, 2019, Beau brings kinetic energy and classic younger-brother charm to the family tableau.
• Cy Monroe — Born September 25, 2021, the third child, completing a trio that keeps the household happily unscripted.

Family at a glance

Writing, Dancing, and Reinvention

Schulman’s curiosity about digital life eventually took book form. In 2014, he published In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age, exploring how screens complicate sincerity and reshape intimacy. The prose has the rhythm of someone who’s carried hard conversations on living room couches across America.

In 2020, he strapped on ballroom shoes for season 29 of Dancing with the Stars, finishing as a runner-up. It was a different kind of reveal: the host known for quiet empathy trading boots-on-the-ground interviews for paso dobles and freestyles. The show tapped into his athleticism, discipline, and something else—an openness to try, to fail, to learn in public.

Trials and Recovery

In 2024, Schulman suffered a serious bike accident, breaking his neck. He described the ordeal and recovery with the same candor he often asked of others on Catfish. The road back was careful and deliberate. His return to work and to regular life underscored an old lesson: fragility and resilience dance closer than we think.

A New Door Opens: Real Estate in 2025

In September 2025, Schulman obtained a New York real estate salesperson license and joined Coldwell Banker Warburg as an agent. The move didn’t abandon his core strengths; it reframed them. Listening deeply. Earning trust. Understanding what people are truly seeking—home, safety, possibility. Negotiation, after all, is a cousin of mediation; showings are guided storytelling; and a contract, like a relationship, works only when everyone feels seen.

His family’s longstanding ties to New York and a father associated with real estate made the pivot feel less like a zigzag and more like a circle closing. The city that trained his eye now becomes the canvas for his clients’ next chapters.

The Work Behind the Lens

Hosting Catfish is often described as “confrontational,” but the craft is more nuanced. It’s triage of feelings. It’s giving strangers the dignity of explanation, the courtesy of time. Schulman’s on-camera presence—calm without indifference, direct without cruelty—comes from a photographer’s patience. He waits for the story to resolve in its own light.

That ethos spills into his off-camera projects: producing, mentoring, and framing conversations about online ethics, privacy, and connection. The through line is simple: people matter. The details are what make them legible to each other.

Timeline of Key Dates

Craft, Character, and City

Schulman’s career reads like a New York story told in three acts. First, the artist with a camera, mapping the city’s expressions. Second, the explorer of digital identity, translating online fog into human clarity. Third, the broker of real-world possibility, helping others claim their physical place in the world.

Across each act runs a braid of values: curiosity, empathy, and plainspoken honesty. He rarely talks in absolutes; he listens for context. That stance made him a steadying presence on television—less judge, more guide—and now informs the way he approaches clients in a market built on trust.

And then there’s the name: born Yaniv, known as Nev. The nickname is a small mirror of his work—bridging formal identity and familiar connection. On-screen or curbside at a showing, he’s still doing the same thing: standing between people and the stories they tell themselves, coaxing the truth into daylight.

FAQ

What is Yaniv “Nev” Schulman best known for?

He’s best known as the subject of the 2010 documentary Catfish and as host and executive producer of MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show.

Is “Nev” his real name?

His given name is Yaniv; “Nev” is the nickname he’s used publicly and professionally.

Who is Nev Schulman married to?

He is married to writer-producer and creator Laura Perlongo; they wed in July 2017.

How many children does he have?

He has three children: Cleo (2016), Beau (2019), and Cy (2021).

Did he really switch careers to real estate?

Yes; in September 2025 he became a licensed New York real estate salesperson and joined Coldwell Banker Warburg.

What book did he write?

In 2014 he published In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age, exploring relationships and identity online.

Did he compete on Dancing with the Stars?

Yes; he competed in season 29 (2020) and finished as a runner-up.

What happened with his 2024 accident?

He had a serious bike accident and broke his neck but recovered and returned to regular life and work.

How did Catfish: The TV Show start?

It spun out of the 2010 Catfish documentary, with Nev helping people investigate online relationships starting in 2012.

Who is his brother?

His older brother is filmmaker Ariel Schulman, who co-directed the Catfish documentary.