The River Bend Film Festival received a generous grant from the “Paul Saltzgaber Memorial Fund for Reading, Writing & the Arts of the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County”, which goes directly toward bringing in our guest speaker Lloyd Kaufman.
Lloyd Kaufman (Keynote Speaker)
Whether or not he would accept the fame (or blame) for these raunchy, mainstream blockbusters, there can be no doubt that what Kaufman has achieved is enormous. In 30 years, Kaufman, along with Yale friend and partner Michael Herz, has built Troma Studios up from a young company struggling to find its voice in a field crowded with competitors to legendary status as a lone survivor, a bastion of true independence, and the world’s greatest concentration of camp.
The Troma Universe was born in 1974 with a series of highly original, sexy comedies such as Squeeze Play!, Waitress!, and other titles ending with an exclamation point. Kaufman’s relationship with mainstream Hollywood would not last long. “There were problems,” Kaufman said, “as I always wanted to do things my own way and my employers insisted I do things the correct way.” Kaufman proved his former employers wrong with his 1984 breakthrough movie, The Toxic Avenger, which struck a chord with audiences and critics alike, demonstrating that there was a large number of people who were interested in seeing things done Kaufman’s way.
The success of The Toxic Avenger was followed by a string of commercial and artistic triumphs in a similar vein, blending fantasy, heavy action, comedy, and eroticism in a style that can only be described as “Tromatic”. These films, including the Class of Nuke ‘Em High trilogy, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, and Troma’s War, were often ignored or scorned by the intelligentsia of the time but spoke to an entire generation of young people who rejected the pandering, commercial films of the mid-to-late 80’s.
Lately, Kaufman and the Troma Team have begun to win respect from even their harshest critics. Tromeo & Juliet became a surprise theatrical and critical hit, earning the grand prize at the Fanta Festival in Rome. Kaufman’s following opus, Terror Firmer played for six months in Los Angeles alone. In addition, Kaufman has been an honored guest at various international film festivals and Troma retrospectives around the world. In 2003, Kaufman received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fantasy Film Festival of Amsterdam.
In January 2000, Kaufman founded the TromaDance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Determined to give independent film back to the people, Kaufman established a festival where there is no entry fee to filmmakers to submit their films, nor is there any admission charged to audience members.
Kaufman is also a tireless innovator, constantly using new developments in technology to foster the growth of independent art. He has served as Executive Vice Chairman of the American Film Marketing Association (AFMA). Thanks to his vision of independent cinema’s future on the Internet, Kaufman was asked to help create and currently chairs AFMA’s New Technologies Opportunities Committee. Recently, he was elected Chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance.
Currently, Kaufman is hard at work promoting his acclaimed novelization of The Toxic Avenger and his previous book, “Make Your Own Damn Movie” has inspired a series of successful Lloyd Kaufman taught Master Classes at colleges and institutions across the country and the world! In addition, he created 20 half-hour television episodes for England’s Channel 4. The series, “Troma’s Edge TV.” Kaufman’s latest masterpiece is a satire about the fast-food industry/zombie film called Poultrygeist.
Biography courtesy of www.troma.com