Dec 30, 1945

New York, New York, USA

Stanley Lloyd Kaufman never really wanted to make movies, but wanted
to work in Broadway musicals. During his years in Yale, though, he
got 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
fil... ... (read more...) m 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 wanted to be a director right then and there, so he 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, trying to find a quick way to pay off the bills, made The
Divine Obsession (1975), and with a friend, formed Troma Studios,
hoping to make some decent movies, since they only owned the rights
to films they thought were "crap".
Lloyd, Michael and Troma eventually made millions, and had
enough money to buy their own building (which still remains as Troma
Headquarters). Troma then turned out a stream of "sexy" comedies--
i.e., Waitress! (1982), The First Turn-On!! (1983), Stuck On You!
(1983). 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 retitled and released as The Toxic Avenger (1985), 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 (1987), Class of Nuke 'Em
High (1986), Combat Shock (1986), Troma's War (1988), and Fortress of
Amerikkka (1989).