Post-film Q&A with Adriana Valdez Young, one of the main subjects of the documentary

From Executive Producer Jesse Eisenberg and acclaimed director Jeremy Workman.

In 2003, eight young Rhode Islanders created a secret apartment in a hidden space inside the Providence Place Mall and lived in it for four years, filming everything along the way.  They snuck in furniture, tapped into the mall’s electricity, and even secretly constructed a brick wall with a locking door, smuggling in over 2 tons of cinderblock.  Far more than just a wild prank, the secret apartment became a deeply meaningful place for all its inhabitants – a personal expression of defiance against local gentrification, a boundary-pushing work of public/private art, and finally, a 750 square foot space that sticks it to the man!  

ADRIANA VALDEZ YOUNG is a design researcher who makes products, spaces, and experiences more inclusive, helpful, and joyful. She grew up in a family of new Americans who romanticized the mall as a temple to fulfill their dreams. She has visited dozens of shopping malls around our planet as part of her research on the securitization of lifestyle and architecture as a tool for conflict mediation and creation. Currently, she is faculty and acting chair of MFA Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts, New York City. She holds a BA in History from Brown University and an MS in City Design from the London School of Economics. She much prefers sleeping on an organic mattress made of Greek wool, coconut fiber, and foam over a dusty nest of discarded insulation tiles any time.