Reinaldo Marcus Green

Green was born in the Bronx to an African American father and a Puerto Rican mother and grew up in Staten Island among other areas of New York City. His parents divorced, and he and his brother Rashaad primarily lived with their father. They played baseball growing up and had MLB ambitions. Green attended Port Richmond High School. He went on to complete a Master of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and taught at an elementary school. He then worked at AIG for five years as a director of educational programming and talent acquisitions, needing the money to pay off his undergraduate loans. However, Green's department was downsized due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Disillusioned by Wall Street and introduced to film by his brother, Green enrolled in NYU Tisch School of the Arts' graduate film program when he was 27 and has since taught at the institution as an adjunct professor.