“Green Room was one of the biggest pieces of baggage I had carried around with me since I was younger. When I decided to make this film, I didn't actually do much thinking or planning, because all of the pieces and the motivation were already right there just waiting to get out. I copied out select phrases from my teenage diaries, filmed a few small sequences that I had running around in my head, took a bunch of footage I had taken of me and my friends when we were much younger, and just sat down at my computer and jammed it all together, not really knowing how it would all work. I think it worked...I think. Well, I like it at least.”

—Matt Palazzolo, 22, writer, director, and producer of Green Room

Green Room is six minutes long. You can learn more about Matt and his films at his Web site MGLFights.com.

"Growing up (and I suppose still now), I was confused in many different respects—sexually, racially about my gender. I was a biracial queer kid in an environment that was not very forgiving to indefiniteness, so I was constantly looking for means of escape.

 

I discovered my biggest escapist indulgence and one of my greatest joys when I was sixteen. I got my first video camera and discovered filmmaking. Like most other art forms, filmmaking allows you to physicalize your emotions and create an exclusive intimate world, but not just on a figurative level…rather, on a very literal one…if you choose. Out of all my passions and all of my interests, it’s the only thing I’ve ever found that could ever help me to adequately express how indefinite I often feel. "

—Matt Palazzolo, 22, writer, director, and producer of Green Room