Loyd Kaufman

Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, such as '' The Toxic Avenger'' and ''Tromeo and Juliet''. Many of the strategies employed by him at Troma have been credited with making the film industry significantly more accessible and decentralized.

Early life

Kaufman was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Ruth (''née'' Fried) and Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Sr., a lawyer.

Career

Early career

Kaufman graduated from Yale University with the class of 1968, where he majored in Chinese studies. His fellow 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.

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'' (1969). 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'' (1970) and '' Cry Uncle!'' (1971). During this period, Kaufman also directed and starred in his second feature film, ''The Battle of Love's Return'' (1971), which garnered positive reviews in publications such as '' The New York Times''; wrote and co-produced the lesbian thriller '' Sugar Cookies'' (1973) with Oliver Stone; and wrote and directed the Israeli comedy flop, '' Big Gus, What's the Fuss?'' (1973). Kaufman also served as executive in charge of locations for ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), and was influential in choosing 2001 Odyssey as the nightclub in the film.

From 1973 to 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'', 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). 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''.

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 two sequels, a fourth independent film sequel, 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, a fourth independent film sequel, 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.

Troma's popularity waned after the box office failure of '' Troma's War'', a contributing factor to the company's collapse as a major film studio, forcing the Kaufman to eventually downsize his business into an independent film studio. 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. Troma's attempt to regain its popularity with the superhero 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 and poorly reviewed. ''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, '' Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV'' which proved to be an ultimately unsuccessful revival of the series, both films failing to make an impression at the box office.

It would not be long, however, before Troma would once again experience financial hardship, this time after the expensive 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. 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. 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 ''Gamer''.

Kaufman's long-time editor Gabriel Friedman co-directed and wrote the screenplay to his follow-up film, '' Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead'', a musical zom-com which made its official New York premiere on May 9, 2008 (although the film had previewed numerous times on single screens for over a year). The film opened to positive reviews from '' Entertainment Weekly'' and '' The New York Times''. ''Poultrygeist'' grossed $22,623 in the United States and Canada.

In September 2008, a staged musical version of ''The Toxic Avenger'' opened at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey

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