Post by CMF Newsman on Feb 19, 2009 12:46:49 GMT -5
Talk to any film student about their dreams and goals for the future, and you’ll likely hear a lot about “art” and “pushing the creative envelope” or even “winning an Oscar”. It’s not very likely you’ll hear a student say something along the lines of, “I want to make a movie about zombie chickens.” When it comes to filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman, though, that’s exactly what this 53-year-old adolescent has done—along with a long list of other, equally odd films.
The co-founder and mad genius behind Troma Films got his start in the late ’60s working with John G. Avildsen, who would later go on to win an Academy Award for directing Sylvester Stallone in Rocky. The two collaborated for several years, making several low-budget independent films, while Kaufman also dabbled in front of the camera. His starring role in The Battle Of Love’s Return in 1971, which he also wrote and directed, received critical praise from a variety of publications, including The New York Times.
The early 1970s was a fertile time for filmmakers, with dozens of independent studios popping up in New York and Los Angeles, before mass marketing and multi-national corporations made it too expensive for most to succeed as a true independent. Kaufman and his business partner Michael Herz were one of many who started their own studios during that creative heyday, founding Troma Studios in 1974. The pair began producing and distributing action and comedy films, with Kaufman using the pseudonym “Samuel Weil” to skirt the powerful Directors Guild of America.
www.chattanoogapulse.com/film/film-reviews/13-film-reviews/570-why-you-should-never-pick-on-the-janitor