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 filmmakers 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 was not long, however, before Troma once again experienced 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. Kaufman 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. Kaufman 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. Directed by Tony Award winner John Rando,
The Toxic Avenger Musical features music from Bon Jovi founding member,
David Bryan. On September 17, 2009, Kaufman announced he would have a cameo in the remake of the Charles Kaufman/Troma movie ''
Mother's Day'' alongside his brother Charles. Kaufman is the subject of the book
Toxic Schlock: Conversations with Lloyd Kaufman by Andrew J. Rausch and Chris Watson. An author himself, Kaufman has most recently been working on adding to his
Your Own Damn Movie! series. Having completed
Make Your Own Damn Movie!,
Direct Your Own Damn Movie! and
Produce Your Own Damn Movie!, he is now working on
Sell Your Own Damn Movie!. Kaufman is the subject of the book
Lloyd Kaufman: Interviews by
Mathew Klickstein, an installment of the
University Press of Mississippi's long-running
Conversations with Filmmakers Series. In 2010, Troma produced ''Father's Day
, a shocking film from Canadian powerhouse Astron-6. Kaufman appeared on the Discovery Channel series, Oddities'', in the tenth episode of the third season. In 2012, Kaufman starred in the anthology horror film
Horror House, playing Joe the Real Estate Agent in each of the film's five story scenarios. On April 30, 2013, Kaufman appeared on an episode of
Angry Video Game Nerd, reviewing the video game
Toxic Crusaders on various consoles. Kaufman also appears in
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie as himself, and was interviewed by
James Rolfe. In December 2013, Lloyd Kaufman revealed on the podcast Chimichanga Talk that he found lost behind-the-scenes footage of the film
Rocky. Kaufman directed this footage and it was shot on
Super-8. He also stated that he has completed a commentary of the footage and that it will be included in the 40th Anniversary release of
Rocky on
Blu-ray and
DVD. In 2013, Troma premiered ''
Return to Class of Nuke 'Em High Vol.1 (2013) at the Cannes Film Festival. Return to Nuke 'Em High: Vol. 1
was a collaboration between Troma and Starz/Anchor Bay, it is also the first film Kaufman has directed on digital. The film has been well received premiering all over the world picking up awards and critical praise along the way. The New York Times
stated "Powered by ribald bursts of bad taste and bodily fluids... The overall effect is [sic] joyous." Fangoria said "Return to Nuke 'Em High: Vol. 1'' is undeniably funny, brave and so unlike anything else being put out today that it practically demands respect."
The Museum of Modern Art selected ''Return to Nuke 'Em High: Vol. 1'' as part of its prestigious "Contenders" series - a collection of influential, innovative films made in the past 12 months that are believed will stand the test of time - honoring Kaufman along with fellow directors
David Lynch,
Woody Allen, the
Coen Brothers and
Sofia Coppola. In 2020, Kaufman released
#ShakespearesSh*tstorm, his iteration of William Shakespeare's
The Tempest, a spiritual sequel to
Tromeo and Juliet. In 2021, Kaufman served as producer on Brandon Bassham's
Slashening: The Final Beginning and Mercedes The Muses's
Divide & Conquer. == Filmography ==