Troma films have shocked, appalled, and inspired a generation of filmmakers, from Quentin Tarantino to Kevin Smith. Now legendary Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman tells the story of the demented genius behind this outrageous independent film studio.
Troma Entertainment, the independent film studio that brought the world classic films like The Toxic Avenger and Cannibal! The Musical and jump started the careers of creators such as Eli Roth and James Gunn, dives into the comic page with a host of stories inspired by their film catalog! Chock full of the spirit that has kept Troma strong for over 30 years, this original graphic novel features zany and brillaint tales from Sean McKeever, Tony Moore, B. Clay Moore, Jeremy Haun, Steve Kurth, Tim Seeley and more! You've never seen Troma quite like this!
Most of us turn a blind eye to the startling array of chemicals lurking in everything from shampoo to baby bottles to the bills in our wallets, choosing to believe that government agencies ensure the safety of the products we wear, use, ingest and breathe in daily. Yet the standards for product safety in North America lag far behind those of other countries. We frequently hear that a substance we’ve relied on for years turns out to have serious effects onour health, the environment, or both. After coming to terms with the fact that the autism and cancer which had impacted her family were most likely the result of environmental toxins, author Deanna Duke undertook a mission to dramatically reduce her family’s chemical exposure. She committed to drastically reducing the levels of all known chemicals in both her home and work environments, using the help of bodyburden testing to see what effect, if any, she was able to have on the level of toxins in her body. Follow Deanna’s journey as she uncovers how insidious and invasive environmental toxins are. Learn about your day-to-day chemical exposure, the implications for your health, and what you can do about it. And find out whether the author’s quest is mission impossible, or whether she is ultimately able to improve her family’s health by taking steps towardsleading a chemical-free life.
Lloyd Kaufman, the writer/producer/director of such cult-classic films as The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Tromeo and Juliet, offers a guide to movie-making unlike any other available anywhere. In 25 years, Kaufman, along with partner Michael Herz, has built Troma Studios up from a company struggling to find its voice in a field crowded with competitors to its current--and legendary--status as a lone survivor, a bastion of true cinematic independence, and the world's greatest collection of camp on film. As entertaining and funny as it is informative and insightful, Make Your Own Damn Movie! places Kaufman's radically low-budget, independent-studio style of filmaking directly in the reader's hands. Thus we learn how to: develop and write a knock-out screenplay; raise funding; find locations and cast actors; hire a crew; obtain equipment, permits, and music rights (all for little or no money); make incredible special effects for $0.79 each; charm, schmooze, and network while on the film-festival circuit; and, finally, make a bad actor act so bad it's actually good. From scriptwriting and directing to financing and marketing, this book is brimming with utterly off-the-wall, decidedly maverick, yet consistently proven advice on how to fully develop one's idea for an independent film.
The Independent Directing Bible that will fit in your back pocket! (If you have an extremely large pocket ...) Have you always wanted to direct a movie, but don't know how to start? Want to know how to get your first directing job? What do directors even do, anyway? Legendary director Lloyd Kaufman, creator of The Toxic Avenger, reveals 40 years worth of maverick cinematic know-how! Direct Your Own Damn Movie! will be your step-by-step roadmap on the journey through: * Scriptwriting * Pre-production * Casting * Managing your set * Post-production * Distribution Master the art of directing the easy way! There is no better way to become a director than by following the instruction and wisdom of an actual successful film director, not someone who just talks about it. Featuring expert advice from: Eli Roth (Grindhouse, Hostel) Jenna Fischer (LolliLove) Stan Lee (co-writer Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) Ron Jeremy (credits cannot be printed here) Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead, Slither) ... and many more! WARNING! Do not read this book if you suffer from motion sickness, or are about to operate heavy machinery. This book is not for the faint of heart, the good of taste, or those who might be pregnant. * There's more to directing than a cool-looking chair. Renegade director Lloyd Kaufman reveals all! * Includes interviews with a host of luminaries on mistakes and disasters from their early film careers * Learn the ten directing commandments of Lloyd Kaufman, plus the all-important 11th: forget the first 10 and direct your own damn movie!
An established and successful chief marketing officer and entrepreneur, once upon a time Jeff Sass spent seven years making low-budget action/horror films for legendary independent movie studio Troma, home of THE TOXIC AVENGER. It turns out there are a lot of similarities between filmmaking and starting companies, and the lessons Jeff learned making B-movies have served him well in the C-Suite. "Everything I Know about Business and Marketing, I Learned from The Toxic Avenger (One Man's Journey to Hell's Kitchen and Back)" is full of practical business and marketing insight and inspiration drawn from the often comical trials and tribulations of creating cult-classic independent films. Sass shares lessons learned from his experiences ranging from RABID GRANNIES to READING RAINBOW (yes, at one time Troma actually represented licensing rights to the Emmy Award-Winning PBS TV series!), and he cleverly turns his tales of moviemaking mayhem into useful nuggets of business and marketing wisdom applicable to any industry, including yours.
Although the venue Off Broadway has long been the birthplace of innovative and popular musicals, there have been few studies of these influential works. Long-running champs, such as The Fantasticks and Little Shop of Horrors, are discussed in many books about American musicals, but what of the hundreds of other Off-Broadway musicals? In Off-Broadway Musicals since 1919, Thomas Hischak looks at more than 375 musicals, which are described, discussed, and analyzed, with particular attention given to their books, scores, performers, and creators. Presented chronologically and divided into chapters for each decade, beginning with the landmark musical Greenwich Village Follies (1919), the book culminates with the satiric The Toxic Avenger (2009). In this volume, any work of consequence is covered, especially if it was popular or influential, but also dozens of more obscure musicals are included to illustrate the depth and breadth of Off Broadway. Works that introduced an important artistic talent, from performers to songwriters, are looked at, and the selection represents the various trends and themes that made Off Broadway significant. In addition to essential data about each musical, the plot and score are described, the success (or lack of) is chronicled, and an opinionated commentary discusses the work's merits and influences on the musical theatre in general. The first book of its kind, this highly readable volume will please both the theatre scholar and the average musical theatre patron or fan.
For over FORTY YEARS, Troma Studios has blazed its own bloody, slime-covered trail, making movies their own damn way! From The Toxic Avenger to The Class Of Nuke ‘Em High to Poultrygeist to Tromeo And Juliet, Lloyd Kaufman never compromised, waving his independent freak-flag freely, and helped jumpstart the careers of luminaries such as James Gunn, Trey Parker, Eli Roth, Oliver Stone and countless others! How, you might ask, did a couple of rebels with almost no cash manage to make a library of a THOUSAND films? You’ll have to pick up this incredible collection to find out, featuring never-before-seen film stills, rare posters, candid interviews, and buckets and buckets and BUCKETS of fake blood…
'Funny, arty and just a little bit naughty, the Art Avenger is amazing!' Matt Lucas 'Very funny . . . I learned tons about art and laughed A LOT.' Joe Lycett A laugh-out-loud illustrated adventure featuring Trixie Pickle, the Banksy of her school. Trixie loves art and hates bullies - and so decides to become an Art Avenger, righting wrongs at her school through art. She uses Picasso, Pollock and Ofili to teach bullies a lesson, get out of lessons and help those in need, like an arty Robin Hood. Highly illustrated throughout by Olaf and with fact files of hilarious and irreverent details about real artists, Trixie Pickle is perfect for fans of Konnie Huq, Sam Copeland and Liz Pichon.