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Lloyd Kaufman

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Lloyd Kaufman
Kaufman at left, promoting Getting Lucky at the 2009 San Diego Comic Convention
Born
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Jr.

(1945-12-30) December 30, 1945 (age 78)
New York City, New York, United States
Occupation(s)director, producer, screenwriter, actor
Years active1969–present
SpousePat Swinney Kaufman (3 daughters)

Lloyd Kaufman (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. Kaufman also serves on the board of the Independent Film & Television Alliance of which he is the former President.

Early life

Kaufman was born Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Jr. in New York City, New York, the son of Ruth (née Fried) and Stanley Lloyd Kaufman, Sr. a lawyer.[1]

Career

Early career

Kaufman graduated from Yale University with the class of 1968, where he majored in Chinese studies. His Yale classmates included Oliver Stone and George W. Bush. Originally intending to become a social worker, he became fast friends with student filmmaker Robert Edelstein and Eric Sherman (son of filmmaker Vincent Sherman), who introduced him to his future lifelong obsession, cinema. Some of Lloyd's favorite filmmakers include John Ford, Kenji Mizoguchi, Ernst Lubitsch, Stan Brakhage and Franklin Schaffner.[2] Like the members of Monty Python troupe, who were a big influence on him, Kaufman read Punch magazine and enjoyed the theatrical performances of Beyond the Fringe, Flanders & Swann, etc.

In 1966, Lloyd went on a hiatus from his studies and spent a year in Chad for USAID as a pathfinder for the Peace Corps.

Returning to Yale, he produced Robert Edelstein's low-budget film Rappaccini and directed his own first feature film, an experimental black and white film titled The Girl Who Returned. The film was presented at film societies at Yale, Harvard, and other east coast institutions. Following his graduation, Kaufman went on to work for Cannon Films, where he met John G. Avildsen (future Academy Award-winning director of Rocky and The Karate Kid). The two collaborated for several years, making low-budget films including Joe and Cry Uncle! During this period, Kaufman also directed and starred in his second feature film, The Battle of Love's Return, which garnered positive reviews in publications such as The New York Times, wrote and produced the lesbian thriller Sugar Cookies (with Oliver Stone), and wrote and directed another film, the Israeli comedy flop Big Gus, What's the Fuss?. Kaufman also served as executive in charge of locations for Saturday Night Fever, and was influential in choosing 2001 Odyssey as the nightclub in the film.[3]

From 1973-1979, Kaufman produced and directed a handful of adult films in New York under the pseudonym "Louis Su." He directed at least three movies: The Divine Obsession, The Newcomers, and Sweet & Sour,[4] and has been credited for producing at least three more.

Troma Studios

In 1974, Kaufman and his business partner Michael Herz founded Troma Entertainment and began producing and distributing independent action and comedy films. In order to pay the bills, Kaufman did some freelance work for major Hollywood productions, including Rocky (edited on Troma's flatbed machines), Saturday Night Fever, and The Final Countdown, which he also produced (Kaufman has said that it was his experience on this film that made him never want to deal with a major studio again[5]). From 1979 to 1981, the two wrote, produced and directed a series of profitable "sexy comedies" including Squeeze Play!, Waitress!, Stuck on You! and The First Turn-On!. On most of these early films, Kaufman is credited as "Samuel Weil." Kaufman also made a small appearance in Rocky and served as the production manager on Louis Malle's My Dinner With Andre.[6][7][8]

In 1985, Troma experienced mainstream success with the violent, darkly comic superhero film The Toxic Avenger. Toxic went on to become Troma's most popular movie, inspiring three sequels, a Saturday morning children's television show, comic books and tons of merchandise. The Toxic Avenger, or "Toxie," is now Troma's official mascot.

Kaufman's follow-up to The Toxic Avenger was Class of Nuke 'Em High, which he co-directed with Richard W. Haines. Riding on the success of the Toxic Avenger, Nuke 'em inspired two sequels and a healthy run on late night cable shows such as USA Up All Night. At one time, Class of Nuke 'Em High was the highest-selling VHS for Troma.[citation needed]

Troma's popularity waned after the box office failure of Troma's War; Kaufman attributed the film's lack of success to cuts made to the movie after the MPAA refused to release it with an R-rating in its intended form.[1] Troma's attempt to reboot its popularity with the super hero satire Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. was unsuccessful, failing to make an impression at the box office. From 1995 to 2000, Kaufman retrofitted the studio into an independent film company, finding success amongst cult movie fans and critics with the independent film Tromeo and Juliet (1996), a loose parody of Shakespeare's play. Other independent films that followed were the less successful Terror Firmer (1999), a slasher film set on the set of a Troma movie (with Kaufman playing a caricature of himself), and the fourth installment in the Toxic Avenger franchise Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.

It would not be long, however, before Troma would once again experience financial hardship, this time after the botched funding of a low-budget video feature titled Tales from the Crapper, which cost $250,000 despite most of the footage being unusable. Lloyd supervised a reshoot in an attempt to salvage the film, dividing the footage into two parts and recasting the film as a double-feature. Tales from the Crapper was released on DVD in September 2004.

Troma still produces and acquires independent films.[9] Troma Films has distributed many films from third parties including Trey Parker's Cannibal! The Musical. Lloyd himself encourages independent filmmaking, making cameo appearances in low-budget horror films, often for free. Recent appearances include screen time in former collaborator James Gunn's directing debut, Slither, as well as Gunn's Super and Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's Crank and Gamer.

Kaufman's latest film, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, made its official New York premiere on May 9, 2008 (although the film had previewed numerous times on single screens for over a year). On its opening weekend, it had the second highest per-screen average ticket sales, beating out the big-budget Speed Racer, and opened to positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times,[10] and was made a critics pick by New York Magazine and Salon.com.

In September 2008, a staged musical version of The Toxic Avenger opened at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Directed by Tony Award winner John Rando, The Toxic Avenger Musical features music from Bon Jovi founding member, David Bryan. On 17 September 2009, Kaufman announced he would have a cameo in the remake of the Charles Kaufman/Troma movie Mother´s Day alongside his brother Charles.[11]

Kaufman is the subject of the forthcoming book Toxic Schlock: Conversations with Lloyd Kaufman by Andrew J. Rausch and Chris Watson. An author himself, Kaufman has most recently been working on adding to his Your Own Damn Movie! series. Having completed Make Your Own Damn Movie!, Direct Your Own Damn Movie! and Produce Your Own Damn Movie!, he is now working on Sell Your Own Damn Movie!.

As of July 2010, Kaufman is set to direct the upcoming The Toxic Avenger 5: The Toxic Twins. Troma is also preparing for both the remake of The Toxic Avenger by Akiva Goldsman, Richard Saperstein and Charlie Corwin, and the upcoming Father's Day, a shocking film from Canadian powerhouse Astron-6 which Troma is producing. Kaufman appeared on the Discovery Channel series, Oddities, on season 3 episode ten.

Select filmography

As director

All films from Waitress to Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. were co-directed with college friend and Troma Vice President Michael Herz

As producer only

As actor

Books

  • All I Needed To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger (with James Gunn)
  • Make Your Own Damn Movie (with Adam Jahnke and Trent Haaga)
  • The Toxic Avenger: The Novel (with Adam Jahnke)
  • Direct Your Own Damn Movie (with Sara Antill and Kurly Tlapoyawa)
  • Produce Your Own Damn Movie (with Ashley Wren Collins)
  • Sell Your Own Damn Movie (with Sara Antill)

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/46/Lloyd-Kaufman.html
  2. ^ The Early Franklin J. Schaffner, by Stanley Lloyd Kaufman jr. - 'Films In Review' (August 1969)
  3. ^ "Fever Pitch." Kashner, Sam. Movies Rock, Fall 2007.
  4. ^ Pahlow, Collin (1977). "The Divine Obsession". British Film Institute Monthly Film Bulletin. 44 (522): 144. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Quoted in All I need to know about filmmaking, I learned from the Toxic Avenger, ISBN 0-425-16357-1
  6. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=8IIwGgReVGIC&pg=PA196&dq=lloyd+kaufman+my+dinner+with+andre&hl=en&ei=ZLC9TrvEN6-KsALO74GvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  7. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=RHZyAQDhfsMC&pg=PA118&dq=lloyd+kaufman+my+dinner+with+andre&hl=en&ei=ZLC9TrvEN6-KsALO74GvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=lloyd%20kaufman%20my%20dinner%20with%20andre&f=false
  8. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=-eDfuEXUHp8C&pg=PA70&dq=lloyd+kaufman+my+dinner+with+andre&hl=en&ei=ZLC9TrvEN6-KsALO74GvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=lloyd%20kaufman%20my%20dinner%20with%20andre&f=false
  9. ^ Lloyd Rage: Four Decades of Fighting the Movie Man | Short Ends and Leader | PopMatters
  10. ^ Lee, Nathan (2008-05-09). "Going for the Finger-Licking Gusto". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  11. ^ "Surprise Cameos in 'Mother's Day' Remake".
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