A Hollywood Love Story
Dustin Quick & Medi EM – Where Art, Music and Destiny Meet
An Exclusive Interview
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Before we talk about your remarkable love story, both of you have built impressive careers in entertainment. Dustin, where did your artistic journey begin?
Dustin Quick: My journey began on the stage. I was fortunate to perform in a world-renowned theater founded by Marlon Brando’s mother, Dorothy Pennebaker Brando, an experience that inspired my lifelong passion for storytelling.
After graduating from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts, I moved to New York, where I performed Shakespeare in a 500-seat Off-Broadway theater and wrote and performed with the urban sketch comedy troupe The Actor’s Gang. Returning to Los Angeles, I became a member of the city’s oldest theater company, Company of Angels, where I portrayed Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
One of the highlights of my stage career came when our production of Trainspotting received LA Weekly’s Ensemble of the Year Award, while Variety described my performance in St. Elmo’s Fire as “understated perfection.”
Hollywood Elites Magazine: You’ve also enjoyed a successful career in television, film, and fashion.
Dustin Quick: I’ve always loved exploring different creative outlets.
Television audiences may recognize me from CBS’s NCIS, including the title role in the Blood Relatives episode “Mommy Dearest,” as well as guest appearances on Comedy Central and The WB. I’ve also worked as KTLA’s Fashion Expert and Runway Model, combining my love of entertainment and fashion.
One project people often recognize is Slash’s music video “You’re a Lie,” filmed at Universal Studios, where I was the only featured actor. Today the video has been viewed millions of times around the world.
In film, I’ve been fortunate to appear in Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem, The Reversal, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and The Usual, a Cannes Film Festival finalist.
Fashion has also been a tremendous part of my life. I’ve modeled for more than one hundred designers and luxury brands on both runway and camera, walking New York Fashion Week, Los Angeles Fashion Week, Los Angeles Swim Week, and three seasons of Paris Fashion Week, most recently for internationally renowned luxury fashion house Terani Couture.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Medi, your artistic path is equally fascinating. How did music become your passion?
Medi EM: Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.
I started playing guitar when I was nine years old, and by fifteen I was already performing on television and major stages. After graduating from high school in England, I moved to Spain, where I immersed myself in flamenco music and developed a deep appreciation for its emotion, rhythm, and storytelling.
Eventually I moved to the United States, where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and a Master’s Degree in Technology Management from Arizona State University.
While attending ASU, I formed the band Suite No. 3, which performed alongside country music superstar Reba McEntire during the Dallas Cowboys’ World Championship Victory Celebration. We also performed at Lollapalooza, which was an unforgettable experience.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Your career continued to evolve after moving to Los Angeles.
Medi EM: Los Angeles gave me the opportunity to fully develop my own musical identity.
I wrote, produced, and arranged my flamenco/world music album Semillas, followed by my electronic and house music album Perfect to Robot. I also worked as a DJ at several well-known Hollywood venues, including Bardot at Avalon, while continuing to perform live flamenco music at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz in Bel Air.
Music has always been about bringing cultures together, and that’s something that continues to inspire everything I create.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Together you’ve become a creative team both professionally and personally.
Dustin Quick: We truly inspire one another.
We’ve performed together at the Skirball Cultural Center, while Medi has performed in Cannes as I walked the fashion runway. Together we’ve created three music videos—Shaken Not Stirred, Heartbeat, and Rebel.
Our films have been selected and screened internationally, including at Cannes and Film Fest LA Live. Most recently, Rebel received the Audience Choice Award at Film Fest LA Live.
We’ve also appeared together in Bruce Willis’s final feature film, Assassin, making that project especially meaningful for both of us.
A Prayer Answered
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Your love story feels like something out of a classic Hollywood romance. Where did it all begin?
Dustin Quick: It truly began on Christmas Eve, twelve years ago.
Earlier that evening, I attended a glamorous holiday party in Beverly Hills. As beautiful as the celebration was, I felt called to leave and attend midnight service at All Saints Church.
Inside the church, everything felt peaceful and sacred.
A well-known Hollywood couple sat directly in front of me. I watched the husband gently touch the back of his wife’s neck with such tenderness that I quietly shed a tear, longing for that same kind of love.
That tear landed on the wooden pew where my hands rested in prayer.
I prayed to God to someday meet the love of my life.
One hundred and eleven hours later…
I met Medi.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Tell us about that unforgettable first date.
Dustin Quick: We brushed past one another between café tables at Cecconi’s during Sunday brunch.
What was supposed to be a casual meeting became an entire day together.
We continued talking at Le Petit Four on Sunset Plaza before ending up at Craig’s, where we became so absorbed in conversation that afternoon quietly turned into evening.
Suddenly I realized I was late for another engagement.
That day became the last first date either of us would ever have.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: When did you realize this relationship was different?
Dustin Quick: A few dates later Medi visited me at Columbia Pictures on the Sony Pictures Studios lot.
My office was inside the historic Thalberg Building, home to glass displays containing Academy Awards won by Columbia Pictures legends, including fellow Nebraskan Marlon Brando’s Oscar for On the Waterfront.
As Medi walked toward my desk carrying two grocery bags filled with fresh produce and Mediterranean food from Q Market, my longtime boss smiled.
He knew exactly what I was thinking.
Medi wasn’t simply bringing groceries.
He was bringing kindness, generosity, and a future.
That was the moment we both knew he was “The One.”
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Your engagement happened soon afterward.
Dustin Quick: Just one month later, on Valentine’s Day, Medi proposed while kneeling on a beautiful Persian rug he had brought from his homeland of Iran.
His proposal represented much more than marriage.
It represented family, culture, poetry, music, generosity, and a beautiful way of seeing the world.
Through Medi, I embraced not only Persian cuisine but an extraordinary cultural heritage rooted in love, hospitality, art, and history.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: How has your relationship transformed your creativity?
Dustin Quick: Medi encouraged me to write lyrics for his music, giving me confidence to express my own voice through storytelling.
His encouragement reminded me of Scheherazade—the legendary Persian storyteller—and inspired me to believe that stories truly have the power to transform lives.
Together we’ve celebrated incredible artistic milestones, from Cannes Film Festival screenings to Paris Fashion Week runways and award-winning music videos.
We’ve grown not only as artists but as partners.
Hollywood Elites Magazine: Luxury Gala has become an important part of your journey together.
Dustin Quick: Absolutely.
Through Samira Kazemeni and Dr. Kamiar Tarighi, we’ve become part of an extraordinary community that celebrates creativity, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and global unity.
Luxury Gala is far more than a red-carpet event. It’s a place where artists, visionaries, and changemakers from around the world become family.
It’s where dreams continue to grow.
