 |
| LLOYD KAUFMAN |
| Part two of the Interview. |
| A slightly hungover Fulci Metal Jacket interviewer and freind meets a slightly coffee-wired Lloyd Kaufman and The Toxic Avenger. |
| BLAKE : |
| It's an unusual stance for the head of a film studio to take. |
| LLOYD : |
| Well, the copywrite laws were not intended to perpetuate the ownership of intellectual |
| and of medicine, and of university resources into the hands of a plutochrisy. The copywrite law was developed to encourage the artist during his lifetime. And originally, at least in the United States, copywrite law was 14 years. Now it's forever. So that Disney can keep Micky Mouse. Mickey Mouse should be in the public domain. If the laws existed in Shakespeare's times that exist now, Shakespeare would have been sued for writing Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare plagiarised from an Italian play. But were he living under our laws, he would not have been permitted to write Romeo and Juliet ... and we would have been denied perhaps the greatest combination of English words in the history of mankind. And that's exactly what the elites... and I don't just mean the United States, this is true in Australia and Europe, and pretty much everywhere. So unless you want to hear the Backside Boys and Celine Dion for the rest of your lives, you better get out there and use new technology to access a greater variety of art and fight this brainwashing that's going on. The dumbing down of everything. And this applies to the museums too. The museums are being held hostage by billionaires who are using the museums to promote their collections of mediocre lap-puppy artists. There's a show called Sensations. I don't know if it's been to Australia, but it's had a lot of publicity in the U.K. and here in the United States. The stuff is crap, and it's all owned by a billionaire. And the value of it has obviously increased because of all the media attention. But there are plenty of good artists eating dogfood. Why are we promoting the collections of billionaire advertising moguls? |
| BLAKE : |
| One thing that has surprised us here in the States is the extent at which Hollywood stars prostitute themselves in commercials. They make Yaniv Sharon's nude run through Times Square seem dignified in comparison. How do you respond to those who question Troma's artistic integrity? |
| LLOYD : |
| No critic has ever questioned Troma's integrity. And the problem with mainstream critics is they marginalise or ignore independant art. The one way to kill us is just ignore us. And that's the bigger problem...that the media, The New York Times never printed one word about my first book All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger. I mean, The New York Times is a New York newspaper. Troma's a New York studio that's been here for thirty years that owns a building. That's had people on the payroll for thirty years that would otherwise be on welfare. We've made over a hundred movies, most of which have been shot in New York City. And yet, The New York Times didn't find it important enough that I had written a book. There must be hundreds of other movie studios that have been in N.Y.C for thirty years ! That's called economic blacklisting. That's called marginalisation. The major media has basically ignored the true independant artist. The fact that Yaniv Sharon ran through Times Square naked for the movie... that's the kind of devotion people have for Troma. Troma is an artistic movement. It's all over the world too. And if I wanted to, I could go on the internet right now and say "Any Troma fans out there, take a brick and throw it through the window of a McDonald's". I guarantee you there would be a lot of broken McDonald's windows. We hate McDonald's, but we would not advise that. However, we do find the guy in France very heroic. The guy who's in jail. But the point being, that Yaniv Sharon said he'd do anything for Troma. There are a lot of people who'll do anything for Troma, and he's one of them. And he did. He ran through Times Square buck naked. |
| BLAKE : |
| Are there any new independant films that your excited about? (at this point, Lloyd points at the Die You Zombie Bastards ! t-shirt that I've proudly worn into the Troma building). |
| LLOYD : |
| Die You Zombie Bastards ! is going to be one of greatest films of all time. Caleb Emerson was in Citizen Toxie. Did you meet him? |
| BLAKE : |
| I reviewed his Red's Breakfast Experience (see reviews), and interviewed him for Fulci Metal Jacket (see interviews). He's a talented guy. |
| LLOYD : |
| He's very talented, and I'm supposed to play a part in this movie I think. In Die You Zombie Bastards! I'm supposed to be in that. Unfortunately I was overseas when he shot the scene I was supposed to be in. But there's another part that Caleb says I'll be in. Caleb is in Citizen Toxie, and also he's a major major reason why Citizen Toxie is so good. He was part of the wonderful nucleus that made Citizen Toxie the best movie Troma's made in thirty years. |
| BLAKE : |
| Is Troma looking at distributing Die You Zombie Bastards ! When it's released? |
| LLOYD : |
| Well, it's certainly a possibility. Caleb is one of our favorite people, so we'd be very happy to help him any way we can help him. We'd be delighted. |
| BLAKE : |
| Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending sees him playing a blind director, a character startlingly similar to that of Terror Firmer's Larry Benjamin. Coincidence? Or is Woody a closet Troma fan? |
| LLOYD : |
| Well, I'm sure Woody Allen is a Troma fan because he is New York, and we've been around for thirty years. How many directors in the United States have total power and freedom to do anything they want? Woody Allen, Lloyd Kaufman, maybe Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese maybe... maybe. Very few. So I think Woody knows that I'm one of the few auter film directors. And I know that every so often his office calls up because he wants a Troma poster or something. I can't comment on the situation regarding the blind director in his movie, except to say that I thought Hollywood Ending was a terrific movie, and I thought his blind director was the way to go. His blind director was in my opinion much more interesting than my version. |