Behind the Mentalist, How a NYC Video Producer Is Building Michael Samen’s Brand From the Streets to Fox 5

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

By: Francis J

When international mentalist Michael Samen walked into the FOX 5 New York studios to appear on Natasha Verma’s talk show, most viewers only saw the polished few minutes that aired. What they didn’t see was the person standing just off-camera with a camera rig. That was Nivedkrishna Thavarayil, the New Jersey-based video producer and founder of Nivedkrishna LLC, who has spent the past several months quietly building the visual identity behind one of New York’s most recognizable street mentalists.

A Fox 5 Milestone, Months in the Making

Photo Courtesy: Nivedkrishna Thavarayil

The appearance, Natasha Verma’s June 2, 2026 episode of “Talking with Natasha” on FOX 5 New York, titled “Did the Mentalist Mess Up?”, brought Samen into one of the country’s largest local media markets. The published episode description notes that Verma tested Samen live on her birthday, and that Samen has performed in “some of the highest-pressure rooms in the world, including the World Economic Forum in Davos.” The segment, hosted by a four-time Emmy-winning anchor, included an on-air mind-reading demonstration and an impromptu birthday surprise for Verma, complete with a live magic reveal.

Thavarayil was credentialed to enter the studio specifically to document the appearance for Samen’s own archive, filming behind-the-scenes footage of the taping, the greenroom preparation, and the live demonstration itself. Several short clips from the appearance are already public, shared as reels on Samen’s Instagram: the mind-reading segment, a follow-up moment from the taping, a third clip from the segment, and an earlier post referencing the appearance. The full behind-the-scenes footage he shot that day, however, remains unreleased, being held for a larger retrospective of Samen’s biggest career milestones.

It was, in many ways, a natural extension of a working relationship that began just months earlier, one built entirely on the strength of a single cold outreach and a coffee meeting in Soho.

From a WhatsApp Message to Full-Time Production Partner

Thavarayil runs Nivedkrishna LLC, a New Jersey-registered production company (formed November 2025) operating under the studio brand Thava Studio, offering video production, social media strategy, and content creation services to small businesses, entertainers, and entrepreneurs. His client work spans the New York metro area, including Brooklyn and Long Island, as well as New Jersey, Philadelphia, Texas, and Los Angeles. Before working with Samen, he had already built a client roster spanning multiple industries: cafes and restaurants including Bricklane Curry House, Paratha Junction, Sips, Hyderabad Peri Peri, Semkeh, Frangos Peri Peri, Nadan Kerala Cafe (New Jersey), Jaipore Royal Indian Cuisine (Brewster, New York), and Kavikara by Silpa (New York); real estate professionals including Levin Realtor and Joseph Cherian; the healthcare practice Your Primary Care (Texas); the coconut water brand Infamous Coconuts (Los Angeles); Sapphire Banquet Hall (Long Island); Sterling Voice Coaching by Lyndia Johnson; the app Fetchy by Nina Duong; and Cora the Borzoi, a New York pet-focused account. Those relationships were built, characteristically, through in-person pitches rather than cold emails.

That same direct approach shaped how the Samen partnership began. In early April, Yoey Garfield, a fellow filmmaker who had studied alongside Thavarayil in film school and who had previously shot and edited for Samen at an event in Maryland, connected the two. Garfield, who now works as a videographer and editor for a marketing company and was based outside New York City, had stayed in touch with Samen since that earlier project. When Samen reached back out looking for someone based in New York to help with ongoing content, Garfield recommended Thavarayil and passed along his contact information. Thavarayil reached out to Samen directly over WhatsApp on April 1, sharing his full production portfolio, and heard back on April 10. Rather than settling things over a call, he requested an in-person meeting, a Monday afternoon coffee sit-down in Soho on April 13.

The meeting worked. Samen brought Thavarayil on for a shoot the very next day, and what started as day-to-day street content quickly expanded into a much broader role that spanned content strategy, Instagram brand direction, YouTube vlog ideation and scripting, and full production and editing of both short-form and long-form content, all built around Samen’s public persona as an international mentalist.

A Filmmaker’s Background Behind the Camera

Nivedkrishna Thavarayil’s ability to convert a single coffee meeting into an ongoing production role, first with cafes and small businesses, later with Samen, traces back to a film background that predates Nivedkrishna LLC by several years. He trained at the New York Film Academy before moving into independent production work, and is listed on IMDb under his own filmmaking credits.

Before founding Nivedkrishna LLC, he spent years building f24foster, a film review and commentary page he started in 2020 focused largely on South Asian cinema, which grew to roughly 10,000 followers and produced several reels that reached millions of views. Between his personal account and f24foster, he built a working understanding of short-form content performance, knowledge he says he has since applied directly to strategy for his cafe, restaurant, and entertainment clients, including Samen. He also maintains a LinkedIn profile and an active Letterboxd account with a sizable following for his film reviews.

Roots in Viral Marketing, CashKaro and WLDD

That strategic instinct was sharpened further during an earlier stretch of Thavarayil’s career, working an internship and apprenticeship at CashKaro, India’s largest cashback and coupons platform, followed by a role on the founding team at WLDD, the Bangalore-based viral and meme-marketing company that Storyboard18 has since valued at roughly ₹100 crore. He joined WLDD as a junior brand strategist and was promoted to creative strategist within two months. Because the team was small in its early stages, the role stretched across the full pipeline (ideation, brand strategy, and hands-on content creation, including shooting and editing), with campaigns built around multiple film and brand promotions designed specifically to go viral.

That period, Thavarayil says, is where he formalized the framework he now applies to nearly every client account, including Samen’s. It is what he calls the “3H strategy”: Hype, Hygiene, and Hub posting, a content-mix approach he uses to balance attention-grabbing content, consistent brand-maintenance content, and platform-specific distribution across every account he manages.

More Than a Camera Operator

In the months since, Thavarayil has become a fixture at nearly every major Samen production, from private events to ticketed shows and corporate bookings across New York City and beyond, with travel covered by Samen’s team. Notable projects include production for a private Amazon corporate event, multiple street mentalism vlogs featuring celebrity encounters, and an in-progress “FIFA Fever” vlog documenting open-air World Cup screenings around the city.

One clear example of that full-production role is a DUMBO, Brooklyn vlog on Samen’s YouTube channel, a project Thavarayil conceived from concept through shoot, edit, and even thumbnail design. A separate vlog featuring a well-known stand-up comedian was also produced during this period, though it has since been taken down from public platforms.

A shoot in North Carolina is next on the calendar, part of a growing multi-city production schedule as Samen’s team plans a move into ticketed New York shows later this year.

A Presence Across Every Platform

Since mid-April, Thavarayil’s production work has become the visual backbone of Samen’s public output across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Facebook, and YouTube. One representative example is a short-form reel on Samen’s account, shot and edited almost entirely by Thavarayil and mirrored across Samen’s platforms, one of many short-form pieces, long-form YouTube videos, and static portfolio photographs that carry his production work, even when his name doesn’t appear on screen.

His own work is visible on his personal Instagram, @tvedukr_12, and on the account for Thava Studio, the production brand under which Nivedkrishna LLC takes on client work, including the cafe and restaurant portfolio referenced above. He is also linked to a separate software venture, Growvior, rounding out an entrepreneurial footprint that extends beyond video production alone.

What’s Next

Samen, who has also appeared on outlets including NBC 6 South Florida, continues to grow his following across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, with Thavarayil now central to that strategy: brainstorming concepts, managing shoots, and overseeing the edit of nearly every piece of content that carries Samen’s name.

For Thavarayil, whose Nivedkrishna LLC also continues to serve independent restaurant and retail clients across New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, the Samen partnership marks a shift from freelance production work toward something closer to a full-time creative directorship. Asked directly to describe the role, Samen was unambiguous. Thavarayil handles creative content strategy, video production and direction, and editing, in Samen’s words, an “all-in-all” role covering every stage of the content pipeline. It’s a scope of responsibility that now includes national broadcast credentials, celebrity-adjacent content, and a growing role in shaping how a touring mentalist is introduced to new audiences, one city at a time.

What Black 47 Did to One Nine-Year-Old Girl and What She Did With the Rest of Her Life: Kathleen McDonnell’s Brideen Is Essential Historical Fiction

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

By: Christian Cooper

County Mayo, Ireland, 1847. The potato crop has failed for the second year in a row and the catastrophe that history will call the Great Hunger is at its most devastating height. Into that catastrophe Kathleen McDonnell places nine-year-old Bridget Sweeney, her own great-grandmother, and the novel that follows traces everything that happened to that child and the woman she became across the next six decades and three continents. Brideen is the book that rescues one of the millions of unremarkable lives that make up the worldwide Irish diaspora from the vast anonymity that has swallowed most of them, and it does so with the skill and the emotional intelligence of a writer who has spent a career learning exactly how to make history feel like the present.

The reading experience this book provides is one of immersive historical presence that the best literary fiction in this tradition always achieves at its most effective. McDonnell has done the research, drawing on fragmentary family records, newspaper archives, and the preserved lyrics of traditional Irish ballads that carried cultural memory in their verses when official documentation was scarce or nonexistent, and she has used that research not as a scaffold to display but as a foundation to build upon, filling the inevitable gaps in the historical record with the imaginative intelligence of a novelist and playwright who understands how people actually lived in the periods she is writing about.

What gives the novel its particular emotional power is the decision to follow Bridget Sweeney not just through the trauma of the Famine but through the full sixty-eight years of her life, across England’s industrial revolution, the American Civil War, and the settlement of the Midwest. That full-life scope transforms the book from a story of suffering, however important and however well rendered, into a story of survival and adaptation and the specific kind of resilience that is built not through single dramatic acts of courage but through the accumulated daily decisions of someone who keeps choosing to move forward when every reasonable calculation might suggest stopping. Bridget Sweeney was not just a victim of one of the great catastrophes of human history. She was a person who lived through it and kept living, and McDonnell’s insistence on honoring that full life rather than just the famous tragedy at its beginning is one of the book’s most significant and most humanizing choices.

The Irish language woven through the text, the cultural music and history that fuel Bridget’s fight for her family’s survival, the specific textures of the three very different societies she navigates across her lifetime, all of these give the novel a richness and a specificity that makes Bridget feel genuinely of her time and place rather than a modern sensibility dressed in period clothing. McDonnell is deeply immersed in Irish traditional music and that immersion shows in how the cultural life of the Irish diaspora is rendered, not as background color but as genuine sustenance for people who carried their culture with them because it was the most portable and the most durable thing they owned.

Brideen is a book for anyone who has ever wondered what the Great Famine actually meant for the specific people who lived through it, and a book for anyone who has ever looked at an old family photograph and wanted to know the full story of the face staring back at them. McDonnell has given us both, and the result is something genuinely worth celebrating.

If you want historical fiction that honors the full scope of a life rather than just the famous tragedy at its beginning, Brideen by Kathleen McDonnell is exactly the novel you have been looking for. Pick up your copy on Amazon and follow Bridget Sweeney from the devastated fields of County Mayo through industrial England, Civil War America, and the settling Midwest, a journey that is not just a story of what was lost but of everything that was built from the wreckage of it.

What the Dream to Success System Teaches About Reinvention Abroad

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

For many international students, studying abroad begins with a checklist: visas, accommodation, tuition payments, and travel arrangements. Beneath these practical concerns lies a much deeper experience. One that has little to do with academics and everything to do with identity.

In Dream to Success System: The Ultimate Tool Kit for International Students, Dharun Madathil presents a compelling argument. Studying abroad is not simply an educational decision. It is an opportunity to redefine who a person can become. At a time when many students feel overwhelmed by uncertainty, the book offers an empowering perspective on what it means to start over in a completely unfamiliar environment.

Hidden Challenge Nobody Talks About

When students leave their home countries, they often assume their biggest obstacles will be financial or academic. While those pressures are certainly real, Dharun highlights another challenge that receives far less attention: the loss of identity.

Back home, people know who they are. They have reputations, routines, friendships, and social roles built over years. Abroad, much of that disappears overnight. Students suddenly find themselves in places where nobody knows their history, strengths, accomplishments, or struggles. For some, this experience can feel disorienting. For others, it becomes liberating.

The book suggests that this identity reset is one of the most valuable gifts international education can offer. Without the expectations of the past, students gain the freedom to intentionally shape the future.

Reinvention Through Discomfort

One of the book’s strongest insights is that growth rarely arrives wrapped in comfort.

The moments students often perceive as setbacks, struggling with language barriers, navigating cultural differences, or feeling socially isolated, are frequently the very experiences that accelerate personal development. The author reframes these challenges as evidence of expansion rather than failure. Every awkward conversation, every difficult adjustment, and every unfamiliar situation becomes part of a larger process of adaptation.

This perspective feels particularly relevant in a world where social media often creates the illusion that everyone else is thriving effortlessly. The book reminds readers that uncertainty is universal, even when it remains invisible. In doing so, it offers something many young adults need: permission to struggle while continuing to move forward.

Building Confidence One Small Victory at a Time

Rather than promoting dramatic overnight change, Dream to Success System advocates for incremental progress. The book repeatedly emphasizes the value of small wins, such as finding a campus building, introducing oneself to a new classmate, managing a weekly budget, or completing an important task. These seemingly minor accomplishments accumulate over time, creating a foundation of confidence and self-belief.

This philosophy stands in contrast to the pressure many students place on themselves to achieve immediate success. The message is refreshingly human. Confidence is not something students arrive with. It is something they build through consistent action. The approach acknowledges that meaningful growth often emerges quietly, through ordinary decisions made day after day.

Becoming a Global Citizen

Beyond academic achievement and career preparation, the book ultimately points toward a broader vision of success. Students who learn to face different cultures, build relationships across backgrounds, and adapt to unfamiliar environments gain perspectives that extend far beyond the classroom. They become more resilient, empathetic, and globally aware.

These qualities cannot be measured on transcripts, yet they frequently prove to be the most enduring outcomes of international education.

Takeaway

More than anything, Dream to Success System is a reminder that leaving home is not only about pursuing a degree. It is about discovering new possibilities within oneself.

Dharun Madathil’s work challenges readers to see uncertainty not as a threat but as an invitation. The unfamiliar streets, new cultures, and unexpected obstacles become part of a larger story, one in which students are not merely adapting to a new world but actively creating a new version of themselves. And that may be the most valuable lesson international education has to offer.

Designing Accessible Bathrooms with Modern Style

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Combining accessibility with contemporary design results in beautiful, practical bathrooms.
  • Forward-thinking bathroom updates promote safety for all family members and increase home value.
  • Smart upgrades, innovative products, and open concepts are at the heart of today’s accessible renovations.

Updating your bathroom can transform your everyday routine, but combining style with accessibility takes thoughtful consideration. Homeowners aiming for a modern, safe, and functional bathroom can achieve accessibility without sacrificing aesthetics. From open layouts to designer fixtures, accessible bathrooms are leading the way for future-ready homes. If you are planning a bathroom renovation, integrating features that address safety and mobility is a smart investment. Learn how a well-planned shower remodel can be the foundation of a sophisticated and accessible space.

Accessible trends such as curbless showers, sleek grab bars, and non-slip surfaces enhance comfort and reduce risks for everyone. Whether adapting for aging-in-place or improving daily usability, modern bathroom renovations ensure long-term value and style.

Zero-Threshold Showers

Zero-threshold, or curbless, showers are a hallmark of accessible design. With a flush entry, these showers allow wheelchair users and people with limited mobility to enter safely. Curbless showers also make cleaning easier and contribute to the modern, spa-like look that many homeowners desire. According to Architectural Digest, curbless showers are not just practical but also a top design trend in new builds and renovations.

When remodeling, plan for proper drainage and slip-resistant tiles to ensure maximum safety. The visual openness of a zero-threshold shower can make even small bathrooms appear much larger than they are.

Consider pairing a zero-threshold shower with large-format tiles to further minimize grout lines and simplify maintenance. This opens up possibilities for bold color choices or subtle patterns that personalize the bathroom while maintaining universal access. Many designers recommend including a handheld showerhead mounted on a slide bar to accommodate varying heights and preferences, making the space versatile for all users. In addition, incorporating a built-in bench or fold-down seat allows for comfortable and independent bathing, serving those who need to sit while showering without disrupting the overall aesthetic.

Stylish Grab Bars

Modern grab bars are available in finishes that complement any décor, from brushed nickel to matte black. Placing these supportive fixtures near toilets and within showers provides added stability where it is needed most, preventing slips and falls. Instead of looking institutional, today’s grab bars have elegant profiles and concealed mounting hardware.

To further enhance both style and safety, some manufacturers now offer grab bars that double as towel racks or shelving, maximizing utility in smaller bathrooms. For a cohesive look, coordinate these multipurpose bars with other hardware such as robe hooks and faucet handles. Installers can precisely position grab bars during renovations at shower entrances, beside tubs, or along toilet walls to fit residents’ needs.

Wall-Mounted Sinks and Vanities

Floating sinks and vanities create open space beneath the countertop, offering essential knee clearance for wheelchair users. This makes daily tasks more manageable and encourages independent living. Wall-mounted vanities also look sleek and modern, adding to the illusion of space. Choosing faucets with long handles or touch sensors further increases accessibility for all users.

Storage is a consideration with floating vanities. Integrating drawers and open shelving nearby can preserve function while keeping essential items within easy reach. Customizable vanity heights and adjustable mirrors can improve usability for those seated or standing. Opt for rounded corners instead of sharp edges to reduce accidental bumps and injuries in a busy bathroom.

Comfort-Height Toilets

Comfort-height toilets are designed to sit a couple of inches higher than standard models, making them easier to use for seniors or those with knee, hip, or back issues. This minor difference in height can significantly reduce strain during a daily routine, providing relief and fostering independence. For maximum comfort and accessibility, pair these toilets with adjacent grab bars.

Some newer toilet models incorporate bidet functions or heated seats, adding layers of comfort while promoting hygiene and further supporting those with limited mobility. Wall-mounted toilets are another stylish, space-saving solution, providing flexible height installation and easy cleaning access below the bowl.

Smart Controls and Touchless Fixtures

Smart bathroom technology, such as motion-activated faucets and voice-controlled lighting, creates a more intuitive and hygienic environment. Touchless controls benefit people with arthritic hands or reduced strength while keeping surfaces cleaner. Integrated smart speakers and temperature-regulated showers can transform routines and make the space future-ready.

Additional tech upgrades worth considering include smart mirrors with LED lighting, anti-fog settings, and built-in digital assistants for reminders and hands-free entertainment. Automated ventilation fans that sense humidity and air quality can also help maintain a comfortable, mold-free environment. Together, these innovations create a bathroom that is welcoming, energy-efficient, and equipped for changing needs.

Non-Slip Flooring

Safety is paramount in any accessible bathroom. Non-slip vinyl, porcelain, or rubber flooring reduces the risk of falls without diminishing the room’s appeal. Many modern non-slip options mimic the look of natural stone or hardwood while providing dependable traction. Carefully selected floor materials can unify the design and ensure a safe, welcoming environment for all users.

When choosing flooring, also consider the ease of cleaning and maintenance. Textured finishes can provide both improved grip and an attractive appearance. Contrasting floor border tiles can visually indicate shower entrances or elevate design by framing the bathing area. Installing underfloor heating adds comfort, particularly helpful for those with circulation issues or colder climates, and is fully compatible with many non-slip surfaces.

Planning for the Future

Installing accessible features during a bathroom remodel offers peace of mind and adaptability if needs change in the future. Barrier-free showers, wider doorways, and reinforcement for future grab bars allow households to evolve gracefully. According to a resource from Architectural Digest, planning for accessibility benefits not just seniors but anyone with temporary or permanent mobility issues. Preemptive planning makes homes more welcoming and accommodating for all guests and residents.

Beyond permanent household members, accessible design ensures that visiting friends or family with mobility challenges feel at ease. Installing lever-style door handles and rocker light switches makes daily routines smoother for kids, seniors, and everyone in between. A beautifully accessible bathroom sets a forward-thinking standard for comfort and hospitality while protecting your home’s long-term value. Whether remodeling for immediate needs or preparing for the future, investing in accessibility delivers benefits today and for years to come.

Thoughtful, accessible bathroom design blends the best modern aesthetics with inclusive features that ensure comfort, safety, and style for every stage of life. With smart planning, innovative technology, and carefully chosen fixtures, homeowners can create beautiful bathrooms tailored for today and prepared for tomorrow.

Can Americans Buy Property in Dubai? A US Investor’s Guide

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

Every year, more Americans who have never set foot in the UAE end up owning a piece of it: an apartment in a Dubai tower, a villa in a gated community, a unit still under construction that won’t hand over for another two years. It sounds like the kind of purchase that requires a passport stamp and a lawyer fluent in a foreign legal system. Mostly, it doesn’t. Dubai has spent the past two decades building a property market specifically designed to be accessible to foreign buyers, and that includes Americans who are researching the idea from a laptop in New York or Chicago rather than standing in a Dubai Marina showroom.

This guide walks through what actually matters before wiring a deposit: whether you’re legally allowed to buy, whether the market is genuinely safe or just marketed that way, what the process looks like step by step, and the parts of this that are different for a US citizen specifically, because they are, in ways most general guides gloss over. Where a company like Time Homes Real Estate fits into that process comes at the end, once the fundamentals are covered.

Can Foreigners Buy Property In Dubai?

Yes. Any foreign national, including US citizens, can buy freehold property in Dubai without a UAE residency visa, a local sponsor, or a minimum stay requirement. The property is registered in your name at the Dubai Land Department, and you can sell, lease, or will it the same way you’d handle a property back home.

The catch, if it can be called that, is that full foreign ownership only applies inside Dubai’s designated freehold zones; Dubai doesn’t grant blanket foreign ownership citywide.

Freehold Zones Where Foreign Buyers Can Own Property

More than 60 areas across Dubai now carry freehold status, including well-known names like Dubai Marina, Downtown Dubai, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle, and Dubai Hills Estate. Outside these zones, foreign buyers generally can’t hold freehold title, though long-term leasehold options exist in some non-freehold areas. For a first-time American buyer, sticking to freehold zones removes the question entirely; ownership there is unrestricted, and the title deed sits in your name, full stop.

Is It Safe To Invest In Dubai Real Estate?

This is the honest version, not the sales-brochure version, because the two answers aren’t the same. Dubai’s regulatory framework genuinely is stronger than what most first-time overseas buyers expect, and the market genuinely has been through real corrections. Both things are true.

The Protections: Rera, Dld, And Escrow Accounts

The Dubai Land Department (DLD) is the government body that owns the property registry and sets the legal framework; the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) sits underneath it as the enforcement arm, licensing brokers and overseeing off-plan sales specifically. For any off-plan purchase, developers are legally required to place buyer payments into a project-specific escrow account tied to an approved custodian bank. Funds get released only against verified construction progress; a developer can’t take your deposit and spend it on a different project down the road. That structure is a meaningful step up from how off-plan risk is handled in a lot of other emerging property markets, and it’s the mechanism that makes Dubai’s off-plan sector function at the scale it does.

The Real Risks: Market Cycles And Off-Plan Delays

Dubai property prices aren’t immune to global shocks. Values dropped sharply after the 2008 financial crisis and again, briefly, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic before recovering and then climbing well past pre-2008 levels. More recently, the market has shown a different kind of volatility: new project launches fell from more than 45,000 units in the first quarter of 2026 to just 5,335 in the second quarter, even as handovers hit a multi-year high over the same stretch, a sign the market is digesting recent supply rather than a slowdown in demand, but a reminder that this is a cyclical market, not a one-way bet. Off-plan buyers also carry handover-delay risk: a project promised for 2027 can slip, and while escrow protects your money, it doesn’t guarantee the calendar. Due diligence on a developer’s track record for hitting its own handover dates matters more than the rendering on their website.

How To Invest In Dubai Real Estate: The Actual Steps

Real estate investing in Dubai follows a fairly standard sequence once you get past the assumption that it must be complicated because it’s international.

Off-Plan Vs. Ready Property

Off-plan means buying a unit before or during construction, usually at a lower entry price with a payment plan spread across construction milestones. Ready property means buying something already built and habitable, with a higher upfront cost, but no handover-timeline risk. Off-plan tends to draw investors chasing capital appreciation between purchase and handover; ready property draws buyers who want rental income starting immediately or who plan to live in the unit.

Costs To Budget For

  • Down payment: A minimum 20% down payment for foreign buyers, versus 15% for UAE nationals, if financing through a bank
  • DLD transfer fee: A one-time 4% of the purchase price, paid at registration
  • Golden Visa threshold: AED 2 million or more in property value qualifies for a renewable 10-year UAE residency, and as of a February 2026 rule change, mortgaged property now qualifies too, based on total certified value rather than how much equity you’ve paid off
  • No annual property tax, income tax, or capital gains tax on the property itself, a real structural advantage over most US real estate markets, though it doesn’t erase your US tax obligations (more on that below)

Rental yields have held up well through this cycle: Dubai residential yields are currently averaging around 6.5%, with apartments outperforming villas and townhouses specifically.

What US Buyers Specifically Need To Know

Most guides to buying property in Dubai are written for a global audience and skip the parts that only matter if you’re a US citizen. Two things are worth getting right before you go further.

Taxes And Reporting

The United States taxes citizens on worldwide income, so any rental income from a Dubai property needs to be reported on your US tax return, typically on Schedule E, regardless of the fact that the UAE itself doesn’t tax it. That said, directly owning foreign real estate in your own name, as opposed to holding it through a foreign corporation, partnership, or trust, is not, by itself, a reportable “specified foreign financial asset” under FBAR or IRS Form 8938. The property itself generally doesn’t trigger those filings; the income it produces still needs to be declared. This is general information, not tax advice, and the details shift depending on how you structure the purchase; a cross-border tax advisor should sign off before you finalize anything, particularly if you’re considering holding the property through an entity rather than your own name.

Buying Remotely: Power Of Attorney And Currency

Reservation and the Sale and Purchase Agreement can typically be handled electronically or through a power of attorney, so most US buyers complete the entire purchase, deposit through registration, without traveling to Dubai. The one practical wrinkle is currency: payments are settled in AED, so factor exchange rates and international wire timing into your payment schedule, especially on a multi-year off-plan payment plan where the dirham-dollar rate could shift between installments.

Choosing The Right Agency As A Remote US Buyer

None of the above answers which agency should handle this for you, and for a buyer transacting from six or more time zones away, that question matters as much as the legal framework does. The right agency for a remote US buyer is RERA-registered, transparent about escrow and developer track records, and reachable during hours that don’t require staying up until 3 a.m.

Time Homes Real Estate is a Dubai-based advisory firm built around exactly that gap. Founded in 2021 and led by CEO Imran Anwar Jiwani, who brings more than 20 years of experience across sales, finance, and real estate investment, the company has grown its advisory reach across off-plan sales, ready properties, rental investment, and long-term property planning throughout the UAE.

New JVC Office And Uk/Us Operations

Time Homes Real Estate recently opened a second physical office in Jumeirah Village Circle, adding to its original Al Barsha base, and has registered UK operations as Time Homes Real Estate Limited, with outreach to American investors extending the same model. For a US-based buyer, that means a point of contact built around international time zones and remote-purchase workflows, rather than a purely UAE-facing brokerage adapting to overseas inquiries as they come in.

Developer Partnerships And International Reach

Time Homes Real Estate works with several of Dubai’s largest developers, including Azizi Developments, Binghatti, and Danube Properties, and has been active on major waterfront communities such as Azizi Venice. The firm has also carried its advisory model abroad, running investor roadshows across India, Pakistan, Seychelles, Singapore, and Mauritius in 2025, with UK, US, and additional international dates planned.

Support For First-Time US Buyers

For investors weighing a first Dubai purchase from the US, Time Homes Real Estate offers international consultations that cover project and developer comparison, payment plan structuring, and location guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can A US Citizen Get A Mortgage To Buy Property In Dubai?

Yes, though terms for non-residents are typically tighter than domestic US mortgages, with lower loan-to-value ratios and more documentation. Many US buyers use a developer’s own payment plan instead, since it often costs less than cross-border mortgage financing.

Do I Have To Pay US Taxes On Rental Income From A Dubai Property?

Yes. The US taxes citizens on worldwide income, so rental income gets reported on your US return even though the UAE doesn’t tax it locally. The property itself generally isn’t a reportable foreign financial asset if held directly in your own name; consult a tax advisor for your specific situation.

Is It Better To Buy Off-Plan Or Ready Property As A First-Time Overseas Investor?

It depends on your goal. Off-plan usually means a lower entry price and a payment plan, with capital-appreciation upside and handover-timeline risk. Ready property costs more upfront but starts generating rental income immediately with no construction risk.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, immigration, or investment advice. Property rules, fees, financing terms, visa requirements, and market conditions may change. Buyers should verify all information and consult qualified professionals before making any purchase or investment decision.

Before Building Companies, Dontae Lopez Spent Years Deciding Which Ones Were Worth Backing

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

Denver-based entrepreneur Dontae Lopez has spent his career on both sides of the table that most founders only ever see from one angle. Before stepping into the role of founder and chief executive, his professional background includes time as a venture partner, evaluating startups rather than running one.

That order, investor first and operator second, is not the most common path into entrepreneurship. Most founders start by building and only later, if things go well, end up on the other side of the table, deciding which companies get funded. Lopez’s path ran in reverse. He spent time assessing other people’s pitches, sitting through the pattern of ideas that venture partners see on a regular basis, before deciding to build something of his own.

That sequencing tends to shape how a founder operates once they do make the switch. Reviewing a large volume of startups over time gives an investor repeated exposure to how ideas succeed or fail, what separates good timing from bad, and how founders talk about their businesses versus how those businesses actually perform once real money

and real customers are involved. Whether or not that experience directly informs the way Lopez runs his own company today, it is the kind of vantage point relatively few operators arrive with before their first day as a founder.

His professional profile also lists an affiliation with ForbesBLK, the Forbes-affiliated network built to connect Black executives, entrepreneurs, and founders with each other and with resources across their industries. Networks built around identity and shared experience have become a more visible part of how founders outside the traditional venture hubs build community, find mentorship, and gain visibility, particularly for entrepreneurs building companies away from the coasts.

Denver itself is part of that picture. Lopez is based in a city that has grown into one of the more active secondary startup markets in the country over the past decade, without the sheer density of the Bay Area or New York, but with an increasingly established base of founders, operators, and investors building outside those two hubs. Entrepreneurs working from cities like Denver often describe a tighter, more accessible local network as a genuine advantage, even if it comes with a smaller overall pool of capital and talent to draw from compared to the coasts.

Lopez’s professional profile also lists education at Harvard Extension School. Beyond these fragments, though, much of his personal story, what first drew him to venture investing, why he eventually chose to build rather than continue evaluating, and how he describes his own approach to spotting opportunity has not been extensively documented in public interviews or press to date. That is not unusual for founders whose public presence tends to center on their current company rather than their own path to it, but it does mean that a fuller picture of Lopez as an entrepreneur, beyond his titles and affiliations, is not yet something available secondhand.

What is consistent across what is publicly available is a career spent close to how companies get built and funded, first from the seat that decides what gets backed, and later from the seat that has to make a business work. That combination, investor and operator, is a less common sequence than the reverse, and it tends to produce a different instinct for timing and risk than founders who arrive at entrepreneurship without first spending years evaluating other people’s attempts at it. It is a background that says less about any single company Lopez has built than about how he likely approaches the decision to build one in the first place.

Not Just Lips New York: How Personalized Aesthetic Consultations Create Better Results

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

By Jay Kt

Picture the client who walks in already knowing what she wants. She’s seen a look on social media, she’s identified the treatment, and she’s ready. The appointment feels simple enough. But the provider who simply delivers what’s requested, without asking questions, without studying the face in front of them, without considering anatomy or proportion, may produce a result that looks nothing like what the client actually needed.

That gap between what a client thinks they want and what will genuinely serve them is exactly where notJUSTLIPS New York was built. Founded by Olga Modlinska, the practice grew from a clear conviction: that aesthetic medicine done well begins not with a syringe, but with a conversation. Olga was shaped in part by the advanced filler techniques and aesthetic standards she observed in Europe and around the world, and she set out to bring that level of precision and artistry to New York. The name itself is a statement. This was never going to be a practice defined by one trend or one treatment.

The through-line of everything notJUSTLIPS does is simple. Results that last, look natural, and leave clients genuinely happy start long before any treatment begins. They start with listening.

Why the Consultation Comes First at notJUSTLIPS

The aesthetics industry has a tendency to move fast. A treatment goes viral, demand spikes, and practices respond by offering it without always stopping to ask whether it’s right for each individual client. notJUSTLIPS New York takes a different position.

Before any procedure is recommended, the team evaluates facial balance, anatomy, and the client’s personal goals. The goal isn’t to apply a formula. It’s to understand what each person actually looks like, what they hope to feel like, and what approach will serve both without tipping into overtreatment.

This matters more than it might seem. Overtreatment is one of the most common sources of client dissatisfaction in aesthetics, and it often happens when providers move too quickly or follow trends without filtering them through clinical judgment. At notJUSTLIPS, the consultation is where that filtering happens.

Clients come in with different histories, different anatomy, different comfort levels, and different definitions of “natural.” A treatment plan that ignores those differences isn’t really a plan. It’s a guess.

How Olga Modlinska Shaped the Practice’s Philosophy

Olga’s approach to aesthetic medicine is grounded in continuous study. She travels internationally to attend advanced courses, including cadaver training, and holds a position as a trainer for Revance, which keeps her closely connected to evolving education around neuromodulators, injectables, safety protocols, and best practices. She also holds her own training courses for other medical professionals.

That depth of education isn’t incidental. It directly shapes how the practice works with clients. “Our priority is to offer treatments that are effective, evidence-informed, and customized to each patient while maintaining the natural-looking results our practice is known for,” the team explained.

Olga also recognized early that the aesthetic industry was changing. Years ago, clients often wanted sharp, high-drama results. A very snatched jawline. Dramatic volume. A bold Cupid’s bow. Today, she’s watching a clear shift in what clients are asking for. They want to look lifted, refreshed, and balanced, but they want to look like themselves. That shift has shaped which treatments notJUSTLIPS has added to its offerings and how the team presents options during consultation.

Reading the Trend Shift Toward Natural Cosmetic Enhancements

The move toward softer, more natural results isn’t just a passing preference. It reflects something deeper: clients are more educated now. They know what overtreatment looks like, and many of them have seen it up close, either on themselves or on someone they know. They’re not walking away from aesthetics. They’re walking toward a more refined version of it.

notJUSTLIPS has responded practically. The practice introduced Sofwave, a non-surgical technology that supports lifting and skin tightening without adding volume. For clients who want a refreshed appearance without the fullness that traditional filler can produce, it’s a meaningful option. The team also offers Skinvive, a hyaluronic acid injectable treatment focused on hydration and skin smoothness rather than structural volume.

These additions reflect a broader principle. “Innovation does not always mean following every new trend,” the team noted. “It means understanding what is evolving in the industry and knowing how to apply it safely, tastefully, and in a way that makes sense for each client.”

Custom lip filler treatment, for example, looks very different from client to client at notJUSTLIPS. One person may need subtle hydration. Another may benefit from a small correction in symmetry. The treatment is always shaped by the face, not by a trend.

The Team Behind the Practice: Building Providers Who Listen

A practice philosophy is only as strong as the team that carries it out. At notJUSTLIPS New York, hiring is deliberate. Technical skill matters, but it’s not enough on its own.

“Someone can be very skilled technically, but if they do not create a positive, comfortable, and caring experience for the client, it does not reflect the standard we want at notJUSTLIPS New York,” the team said. The practice also looks for providers who genuinely understand aesthetics at a deeper level. “Many people can hold a syringe and inject, but not everyone has the eye, artistry, and vision needed to create beautiful, balanced, natural-looking results.”

The qualities the team prioritizes when bringing on new providers include:

  • Openness to mentorship, feedback, and continued growth
  • A genuine enjoyment of working closely with people
  • A strong foundation in facial anatomy and technique
  • An artistic eye for balance and proportion
  • Alignment with the practice’s safety-first standards

Mentorship is built into the culture. Olga works closely with the team, and providers are encouraged to pursue advanced courses, cadaver training, and product education on an ongoing basis. The goal is to ensure that every client encounter reflects the same level of care, regardless of which provider they see.

What “Personalized Aesthetics NYC” Actually Looks Like in Practice

For clients considering notJUSTLIPS for the first time, the experience is designed to feel different from a standard cosmetic appointment. The practice approaches every client as an individual, not a category of treatment.

A typical client journey involves:

  1. A consultation focused on goals, anatomy, and facial harmony before any treatment is discussed
  2. An honest conversation about what the client hopes to achieve and what results are realistic
  3. A customized treatment plan that reflects the client’s face, lifestyle, and preferences
  4. Education about the treatment itself, including what to expect during and after
  5. Ongoing care and follow-up to ensure the client is happy with their results

That last point matters. “Success means creating results that make our clients happy while still looking natural, balanced, and true to them,” the team reflected. Return rates, patient feedback, and the quality of before-and-after results are all reviewed internally as measures of whether that standard is being met.

The team also acknowledges that aesthetics carries an emotional weight. Clients come in with hopes, sometimes with insecurities, and always with a degree of vulnerability. The practice takes that seriously. When difficult situations arise, whether a client leaves unhappy or a result doesn’t land the way anyone hoped, the team processes it together rather than in isolation. “We remind them that they are supported and not alone,” the team explained of how they care for providers navigating hard feedback.

Why Facial Harmony Guides Every Treatment Decision

The phrase “facial harmony” gets used loosely in aesthetics. At notJUSTLIPS, it’s a clinical starting point. Every recommendation the team makes is filtered through an understanding of how the face works as a whole. Adding volume in one area affects the visual weight of another. Lifting here changes the perception of proportion there. A provider who sees only the feature a client wants treated, rather than the full face, will almost always produce a result that feels slightly off.

That’s the insight at the center of the notJUSTLIPS approach. It’s also why the practice doesn’t simply respond to requests. It listens, studies, and then builds a plan that serves the whole person in front of them.

Olga put it directly when describing what the practice was founded to do: create “a space where advanced technique, honesty, and facial harmony come first.” Years later, that sentence still describes exactly what clients find when they walk in.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Aesthetic treatments carry risks and benefits that vary by individual. Consult a qualified medical provider before pursuing any cosmetic procedure.

Inside Dr. Connor Robertson’s Daily Operating System: How He Runs His Week on Four Hours of Admin

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

Admin should not require a CEO, according to Dr. Connor Robertson, founder of Elixir Consulting Group and host of The Prospecting Show. In his view, spending more than four hours a week on tasks that could be systematized means the business is running its owner rather than the other way around. Robertson describes the operating system he uses across multiple ventures to stay at the strategic level while everything else runs without his direct involvement.

The Rule: If It Happens More Than Twice, It Gets a System

Robertson says a single heuristic governs how he handles recurring work. The first time he does a task manually, he does it and documents it. The second time, he documents it more carefully. The third time, he automates it, delegates it permanently, or removes it from his plate entirely. He credits this rule with eliminating, in his estimate, at least 60 percent of the weekly admin that used to consume his mornings.

Morning: A 30-Minute Intel Briefing

Robertson says he does not open email first. Instead, he opens a dashboard populated by automated systems overnight, pipeline status, key metrics flagged against targets, anything surfaced as requiring a decision. He spends 30 minutes deciding what matters that day, in what order, and why, then closes the dashboard and acts on those items. In his framing, the intelligence-gathering function of the morning is automated; the judgment function remains his.

Midday: One Decision Block

Robertson batches all decisions requiring his specific judgment into a single 45-minute block: approvals, nuanced replies, contract reviews, pricing decisions, hiring calls. Outside that window, non-urgent decisions wait. He describes this structural change as eliminating more interruptions from his workday than anything else he has implemented.

End of Day: A 15-Minute System Update

Robertson spends 15 minutes at the end of every working day updating his task system, flagging follow-ups, and reviewing the next day’s calendar for preparation needed, the complete extent of his end-of-day administration, by his account. He frames strong boundaries on where work ends not as a productivity hack but as what makes the system sustainable across years.

The Tools Behind the System

Robertson says the tools matter far less than the architecture: a CRM for pipeline visibility, automated reporting for metrics, Slack with clear channel conventions for async team communication, and a calendar that enforces the structure above. None of it, in his account, costs more than a few hundred dollars a month combined, the leverage, he argues, comes from using the tools in a defined way rather than from the tools themselves.

Why the Boundaries Matter More Than the Tools

Robertson is careful to separate the system from the willpower it might otherwise require. In his account, the structure works precisely because it removes the daily decision of whether to check email first, whether to squeeze in one more approval, or whether a task deserves five minutes now instead of a slot later in the week. Those decisions, made once when the system was built, do not need to be remade every morning. He argues that is the difference between a productivity habit that erodes under pressure and an operating system that holds up across a demanding quarter, a slow one, and everything in between, because the rules do not depend on how the day happens to be going.

About Dr. Connor Robertson

Dr. Connor Robertson is an entrepreneur, author, and strategic advisor based in Pittsburgh. He is the founder of Elixir Consulting Group, host of The Prospecting Show, publisher of The Pittsburgh Wire, and founder of The Grant Finder. He is also a six-time published author, with titles including Built to Run, available at

drconnorrobertsonbooks.com. More on his work is available at drconnorrobertson.com.

How AI, Automation, and Remote Work Are Giving Founders More Freedom to Live and Work Anywhere

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

A few years ago, building a successful business usually meant staying close to your office, managing employees in person, and handling most day-to-day operations yourself. That’s no longer the only path.

You can run meetings from one country, approve projects from another, and keep your business moving without sitting at the same desk every day. With the right mix of AI, automation, and remote collaboration, your location no longer has to decide how your company grows.

Let’s look at how AI, automation, and remote work are making that possible for founders today.

1. Your Business Keeps Moving Without Depending on Your Location

Building a business once meant staying close to your office because daily operations depended on your presence. Questions waited for your approval, meetings filled your calendar, and small tasks pulled your attention in every direction. Even a short trip often meant carrying your work with you because the business slowed down whenever you stepped away.

Today, that looks very different. AI, automation, and remote work support each other to keep everyday operations moving wherever you happen to be. AI helps your team complete research, organize information, draft content, and handle routine requests much faster. Automated workflows keep leads moving, send updates, organize data, and handle repetitive work in the background. At the same time, your team stays connected through cloud-based tools, so projects continue without everyone sitting in the same office.

The businesses running this way share one trait, and it isn’t the founder working harder. “Teams can respond faster, keep projects moving, and make informed decisions without waiting for a manager to approve every step,” said Hans Desjarlais, Founder at FlightList. “That level of flexibility becomes especially valuable for businesses in travel, where customer needs and schedules change quickly, but the same principle helps companies in every industry operate more efficiently.”

This creates a business that depends less on where you are and more on the systems you’ve built. Instead of spending your day checking every small task, you focus on solving bigger problems, planning future growth, and supporting your team when your experience is actually needed.

2. Daily Operations Take Less of Your Time

Every business runs on dozens of small jobs that repeat day after day. Customer inquiries need replies, meetings need scheduling, documents need updating, new leads need organizing, and internal communication never really stops. None of these tasks seem difficult on their own, though together they consume a large part of your day.

AI, automation, and remote collaboration help remove much of that pressure. Instead of handling every step yourself, many routine processes move automatically while your team works together through shared systems. Information flows between different tools without constant manual work, updates reach the right people at the right time, and everyone knows what needs attention next.

Mehmet Metin Cayli, Head of Sales and Business Development at Bold Auto Transport, believes repetitive administrative work often creates hidden delays that businesses don’t notice until they begin automating it. “Coordinating shipments, customer updates, schedules, and internal teams requires hundreds of small actions every day. When those routine processes are connected through automation, work moves with fewer bottlenecks, communication becomes more consistent, and teams can devote more time to solving problems that genuinely require human expertise.”

That changes the way you spend your day. You aren’t pulled into every routine decision or interrupted by tasks that follow the same pattern every week. Your attention stays on work that actually benefits from your judgment, whether that’s improving your product, building partnerships, or finding new opportunities for growth.

3. The Best Talent Is No Longer Limited by Geography

Finding skilled people used to depend heavily on where your business was located. If the right designer, developer, marketer, or project manager didn’t live nearby, your options quickly became limited. Many businesses hired based on availability instead of finding the best person for the role.

Today, AI, automation, and remote work have made that challenge much smaller. Your team doesn’t need to share the same office to work effectively. Communication happens through digital workspaces, projects stay organized in shared platforms, and AI helps everyone find information, summarize discussions, and complete routine work faster. That allows people across different cities and countries to work together as one team.

Luciano Armanasco, Founder & Tour Leader at Our Dolce Vita, adds, “Coordinating people, local partners, and customers across multiple countries depends on clear communication and reliable systems rather than everyone sharing the same office. Remote collaboration makes it possible to hire specialists for their expertise, while AI helps keep information organized and work moving smoothly across different time zones.”

For you as a founder, this opens access to skills that simply weren’t practical before. You build a team based on experience, creativity, and expertise instead of choosing from whoever happens to live nearby. At the same time, your business continues moving across different time zones because work doesn’t stop when one office closes for the day.

4. Growing Your Business Doesn’t Have to Mean Working Longer Hours

Many founders assume business growth always brings a heavier workload. More customers usually lead to more emails, more meetings, more decisions, and more problems to solve. Before long, every part of the business depends on the founder, making it difficult to take a day off without feeling like everything will pile up.

AI, automation, and remote work help break that cycle. Instead of adding more manual work as your business grows, you create systems that handle much of the routine activity. Your team works from shared platforms where everyone has access to the same information, repetitive tasks move through automated workflows, and AI helps complete everyday work faster. That allows your business to handle a larger workload without placing every responsibility on your shoulders.

This doesn’t remove you from the business. It gives you the freedom to spend your time where it creates the greatest value. Instead of answering the same questions every day, you focus on building better products, strengthening customer relationships, exploring new markets, and making long-term decisions.

5. You Get More Freedom to Decide Where Life Takes You

For many founders, building a business also meant staying tied to one place. Relocating, traveling for an extended period, or spending time away from the office often created uncertainty because important decisions, meetings, and project updates relied on being physically present.

Today, businesses operate very differently. AI speeds up routine work, automation keeps recurring processes moving in the background, and remote collaboration allows teams to stay connected from almost anywhere. With cloud-based tools and well-defined workflows, projects continue progressing even when people are working from different cities or countries.

Julian Tillotson, CEO & Founder of Indirap, says the biggest advantage comes from building systems that allow work to continue without constant oversight. “When information, feedback, and responsibilities are organized in one place, teams don’t have to wait for someone to be physically available before making progress. AI and automation reduce unnecessary delays, while remote collaboration keeps projects moving regardless of where people happen to be working.”

That flexibility gives founders more freedom in how they live and work. Whether relocating closer to family, spending time in another city, or managing the business while traveling, companies can continue serving customers without daily operations depending on a single physical office.

An Exclusive Interview: Shannon Wallace on Returning to Diarra From Detroit and Leading A Story About You

NY Weekly Staff on July 24, 2026

By: Erika ‘PR Diva’ Enyolu

As Shannon Wallace returns for Season 2 of Diarra From Detroit and steps into his first leading feature role in A Story About You, the actor, filmmaker and photographer continues to expand his creative footprint across film, television and photography.

In this exclusive interview, Wallace sits down with Erika “PR Diva” Enyolu to discuss creative risk, artistic transformation, New York roots and why his greatest ambition isn’t to be recognized on screen, but to disappear into every role he takes on.

Erika “PR Diva” Enyolu: Returning to Chris in Season 2 of Diarra From Detroit, what new emotional layers were you most excited to explore, and how has your growth as an actor influenced the way you approached him this time around?

Shannon Wallace: The thing about Chris in Season 1 was that we didn’t know the guy. We were introduced to him as Chris, then he became Ambien, then Deonte. The whole time it was, “Who is he?” I didn’t know either, so I had to fill in the blanks myself because there wasn’t much backstory in the script.

For Season 2, I finally got those answers. There were small shifts and adjustments I had to make, which was a lot of fun because this is the first time I’ve come back for a second season of a show.

It’s now a guy who’s been kidnapped twice and rescued twice. Where does that leave a man? I got to explore the frustration, anger and confusion that comes with finding out the life you’ve always known isn’t entirely true. Being able to confront his mother and her role in all of this was a lot of fun too. I also got to work opposite Ms. Phylicia Rashad, which was incredible.

Enyolu: Is there one major moment in the season that you’re able to tease?

Wallace: There’s a moment in Episode 1 where we get a glimpse of what he’s been bottling up. Deante is the kind of person who constantly asks himself, “Is it worth it?” before reacting, but those pressures build over time.

I think this season is really special. I’m excited to see how audiences receive it because I think we’re going to see some movement around the show this time around.

Enyolu: A Story About You marks your first leading feature role while also serving as a producer. How did stepping into both roles challenge you creatively, and what did you discover about yourself through that experience?

Wallace: Up until that point, I had never done a feature film before. Film is different from television because I know where the entire journey goes and I’m able to plant little breadcrumbs throughout the performance.

When I got the script for A Story About You, I saw opportunities to strengthen it creatively, which is why I decided to come on as a producer. Originally, it was written as a play, and I felt I could help shape it into the strongest film possible.

Most of my producing work happened before filming and after we wrapped. During production, I was able to focus on being an actor, which I really appreciated.

Enyolu: Do you have a preference between acting and producing?

Wallace: I’ll tell everybody this. I don’t enjoy producing at all. It’s a necessary evil.

Producing is the thing I have to do in order to create opportunities for myself in front of the camera. Acting is what I love and what I’m obsessed with.

If I had to choose, I’m choosing acting and directing every single time.

Enyolu: Both Diarra From Detroit and A Story About You explore relationships in very different ways. What drew you to these stories and why do they resonate with where you are in your career today?

Wallace: Full transparency, Diarra From Detroit came at a time when I was down professionally. I hadn’t worked in probably a year and a half.

I had interviewed for a full-time photography position with Gap and had booked a play when the audition for Diarra From Detroit came in.

At first, what drew me to Diarra was simple. I needed a job. Then I got the scripts and realized I was joining a really great story with an amazing team.

A Story About You was completely different. It was a Brooklyn love story, and I knew that character. I had been that guy at different moments in my own life.

Preparing for that role taught me a lot about life, love, relationships and attachment styles. I read the book Attached while preparing for the film, and it unlocked something for me. I started understanding what I had been doing wrong, what I was really looking for and how I wanted to approach relationships moving forward.

I needed that film.

Enyolu: Whether you’re acting, directing, producing or behind the camera as a photographer, your work consistently feels emotionally grounded. What does authentic storytelling mean to you in practice?

Wallace: It really starts with why I wanted to become an actor in the first place. I remember watching young actors like Haley Joel Osment and thinking, “If a kid can do that, then it has to come from somewhere deeper than technique.”

Early on, it was about imagination and giving yourself permission to completely believe in the moment.

As adults, we become self-conscious. We worry about embarrassment or what people think. I’ve always been attracted to the honesty that exists when you’re simply playing and telling the truth.

All the different creative things I do are really chasing that same truth. As a writer, I can create it. As a director, I can shape it. As a photographer, I can capture it.

Enyolu: Was working across multiple creative disciplines always part of the vision, or did it evolve naturally?

Wallace: My life has always been like that. I played five sports in high school and I’ve always needed to stay busy. That’s just how I’m wired.

I’m also naturally curious. People sometimes ask how I balance acting, directing, producing and photography, but I don’t really see them as separate careers. It’s all art. It’s all creativity. They’re simply different mediums.

Enyolu: Your directorial debut, Channels, alongside your acting and photography, suggests you’re thinking beyond individual projects. What kind of creative legacy are you hoping to build over the next decade?

Wallace: I don’t know if I think about legacy as much as people expect me to. If there’s one thing connecting everything I do, it’s pursuing grounded and truthful storytelling.

What I don’t want to do is what’s already been done. I want to have fun. I want to create stories that surprise people and challenge expectations.

I want people to watch something I’ve created and think, “Whoa, I didn’t expect that.”

Enyolu: Looking across your recent work, what thread do you hope audiences recognize as uniquely Shannon Wallace?

Wallace: Honestly, I don’t want there to be one.

My goal is actually the opposite. I want to become good enough at my job that audiences don’t immediately recognize me from one project to the next.

Someone told me they thought I was much more muscular after watching Beauty in Black. I had intentionally gained weight for the role.

Eventually, I want the performances themselves to transform me so completely that people aren’t seeing Shannon anymore.

I want to become unrecognizable.

Enyolu: How do you balance building your personal brand with protecting the mystery of your performances?

Wallace: That’s probably been my biggest hesitation with social media.

The more people know Shannon, the harder it becomes for them to separate me from the characters.

I’m still figuring out that balance because you have to promote your work and connect with people. But I also want to preserve enough mystery that when someone sees me on screen, they’re meeting the character instead of Shannon Wallace.

Enyolu: As this summer marks another major milestone in your career, what excites you most about the stories you haven’t told yet?

Wallace: Photography has evolved for me over the years, moving from fashion into portrait work. Acting feels the same way. There are still so many corners of storytelling I want to explore.

This might sound like a ridiculous flex, but I honestly think I’m pretty good at what I do and people don’t yet know.

When those opportunities come, I hope I surprise people. I’m capable of a lot. I just want to do the most.

Enyolu: What does being from New York mean to the man you are today?

Wallace: Everything.

I bring New York everywhere with me. I’m living in Los Angeles now, but I’m still a New Yorker. Home is home, and that will never change.

I honestly don’t know who I would be if I hadn’t been raised where I was and the way I was.

As audiences prepare to see what’s next in Diarra From Detroit, A Story About You and beyond, one thing is certain: Shannon Wallace is only getting started.

CONNECT WITH SHANNON WALLACE:

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | ImDb

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