Lloyd Kaufman
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman never really wanted to make movies, he wanted to work in Broadway musicals. During his years in Yale he was introduced to "B" pictures and the works of
Roger Corman. Lloyd later got the
opportunity to executive-produce a short movie made by a fellow
student. The film, called "Rappacini", got him even more interested in
movies. He bought his own camera and took it with him to Chad, Africa,
were he spent his summer. There, he shot a 15-minute film of a pig
being slaughtered. That was his first movie, and was the birth of what
was later to become known as Troma Films. He showed the footage of the
squealing pig being killed to his family, and their reaction to
it made him wonder if making movies that shocked audiences would keep
them in their seats to see what would happen next.
He wanted to be a director right then and there, so he got a couple of
friends at Yale and made his second movie,
The Girl Who Returned (1969).
People loved it, and he went straight to work on other films, helping
out on projects like Joe (1970),
Rocky (1976) and
Saturday Night Fever (1977).
Lloyd put in a lot of long, hard hours in the film business, just to be
in the credits and to get money for his next project, a full-length
feature. It was a tribute to
Charles Chaplin,
Harold Lloyd and the classic era of
silent-film comedy. Even though Lloyd hated the movie when it was completed, people seemed to love it. He formed a studio called
15th Street Films with friends and producers
Frank Vitale and
Oliver Stone. Together, they made
Sugar Cookies (1973) and
Cry Uncle (1971), directed by
John G. Avildsen. A friend from Yale,
Michael Herz, saw Lloyd in a small scene in
"Cry Uncle" and contacted him to try to get into the film business. Kaufman took Herz in, as the company needed some help after
Oliver Stone quit to make his own
movies. Michael invested in a film they thought would be their biggest
hit yet,
Schwartz: The Brave Detective (1973)
(aka "Big Gus, What's the Fuss?"). It turned out to be a huge flop and
15th Street Films was ruined. Lloyd and Michael owed thousands of
dollars to producers and friends and family members who had invested in
the picture.
Lloyd, trying to find a quick way to pay off the bills, made
The Divine Obsession (1976),
and with Michael formed Troma Studios, hoping to make some decent
movies, since they only owned the rights to films they thought were
poor. They were introduced to
Joel M. Reed, who had an unfinished movie
called "Master Sardu and the Horror Trio". The film was re-edited and
completed at Troma Studios (which consisted of just one room)
during 1975, re-titled and released in 1976 as
Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)
(aka "Bloodsucking Freaks"). It was enough of a success to enable them
to pay the rent so they wouldn't lose the company.
Lloyd later got a call from a theater that wanted a "sexy movie" like
The Divine Obsession (1976),
but about softball (!). The resulting film,
Squeeze Play (1979), used up all the
money Troma had earned from "Bloodsucking Freaks" and, as it turned
out, no one wanted to see it--not even the theater owner who wanted it
made in the first place (he actually wanted a porno movie). Just when
things looked their darkest, they got a call from another theater which
was scheduled to show a film, but the distributor pulled it at the last
minute. Troma rushed "Squeeze Play" right over, and it turned out to be
a huge hit. Lloyd, Michael and Troma eventually made millions from it,
and had enough money to buy their own building (which remains as
Troma Headquarters). Troma then turned out a stream of "sexy"
comedies-- Waitress! (1982),
The First Turn-On!! (1983),
Stuck on You! (1983)--but there was
a glut of "T&A" films on the market. Lloyd noticed that a lot of
comedies were being made and decided to make one, but much
different than the rest. After reading an article that claimed horror
movies were dead, Lloyd got the idea to combine both horror and comedy,
and Troma came up with "Health Club Horror"--later re-titled and
released as
The Toxic Avenger (1984), a
monster hit that finally put Troma on the map.
Lloyd Kaufman and Troma have become icons in the cult-movie world, and
Troma has distributed over 1000 films. Lloyd has continued his career
as a director in addition to producing, and Troma has turned out such
films as
Monster in the Closet (1986),
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986),
Combat Shock (1984),
Troma's War (1988), and
Fortress of Amerikkka (1989),
and
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006),
which follows an army of undead chickens as they seek revenge on a fast
food palace.
Roger Corman. Lloyd later got the
opportunity to executive-produce a short movie made by a fellow
student. The film, called "Rappacini", got him even more interested in
movies. He bought his own camera and took it with him to Chad, Africa,
were he spent his summer. There, he shot a 15-minute film of a pig
being slaughtered. That was his first movie, and was the birth of what
was later to become known as Troma Films. He showed the footage of the
squealing pig being killed to his family, and their reaction to
it made him wonder if making movies that shocked audiences would keep
them in their seats to see what would happen next.
He wanted to be a director right then and there, so he got a couple of
friends at Yale and made his second movie,
The Girl Who Returned (1969).
People loved it, and he went straight to work on other films, helping
out on projects like Joe (1970),
Rocky (1976) and
Saturday Night Fever (1977).
Lloyd put in a lot of long, hard hours in the film business, just to be
in the credits and to get money for his next project, a full-length
feature. It was a tribute to
Charles Chaplin,
Harold Lloyd and the classic era of
silent-film comedy. Even though Lloyd hated the movie when it was completed, people seemed to love it. He formed a studio called
15th Street Films with friends and producers
Frank Vitale and
Oliver Stone. Together, they made
Sugar Cookies (1973) and
Cry Uncle (1971), directed by
John G. Avildsen. A friend from Yale,
Michael Herz, saw Lloyd in a small scene in
"Cry Uncle" and contacted him to try to get into the film business. Kaufman took Herz in, as the company needed some help after
Oliver Stone quit to make his own
movies. Michael invested in a film they thought would be their biggest
hit yet,
Schwartz: The Brave Detective (1973)
(aka "Big Gus, What's the Fuss?"). It turned out to be a huge flop and
15th Street Films was ruined. Lloyd and Michael owed thousands of
dollars to producers and friends and family members who had invested in
the picture.
Lloyd, trying to find a quick way to pay off the bills, made
The Divine Obsession (1976),
and with Michael formed Troma Studios, hoping to make some decent
movies, since they only owned the rights to films they thought were
poor. They were introduced to
Joel M. Reed, who had an unfinished movie
called "Master Sardu and the Horror Trio". The film was re-edited and
completed at Troma Studios (which consisted of just one room)
during 1975, re-titled and released in 1976 as
Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)
(aka "Bloodsucking Freaks"). It was enough of a success to enable them
to pay the rent so they wouldn't lose the company.
Lloyd later got a call from a theater that wanted a "sexy movie" like
The Divine Obsession (1976),
but about softball (!). The resulting film,
Squeeze Play (1979), used up all the
money Troma had earned from "Bloodsucking Freaks" and, as it turned
out, no one wanted to see it--not even the theater owner who wanted it
made in the first place (he actually wanted a porno movie). Just when
things looked their darkest, they got a call from another theater which
was scheduled to show a film, but the distributor pulled it at the last
minute. Troma rushed "Squeeze Play" right over, and it turned out to be
a huge hit. Lloyd, Michael and Troma eventually made millions from it,
and had enough money to buy their own building (which remains as
Troma Headquarters). Troma then turned out a stream of "sexy"
comedies-- Waitress! (1982),
The First Turn-On!! (1983),
Stuck on You! (1983)--but there was
a glut of "T&A" films on the market. Lloyd noticed that a lot of
comedies were being made and decided to make one, but much
different than the rest. After reading an article that claimed horror
movies were dead, Lloyd got the idea to combine both horror and comedy,
and Troma came up with "Health Club Horror"--later re-titled and
released as
The Toxic Avenger (1984), a
monster hit that finally put Troma on the map.
Lloyd Kaufman and Troma have become icons in the cult-movie world, and
Troma has distributed over 1000 films. Lloyd has continued his career
as a director in addition to producing, and Troma has turned out such
films as
Monster in the Closet (1986),
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986),
Combat Shock (1984),
Troma's War (1988), and
Fortress of Amerikkka (1989),
and
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006),
which follows an army of undead chickens as they seek revenge on a fast
food palace.