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| Author | Lloyd Kaufman and James Gunn |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Autobiography |
| Publisher | Berkely Boulevard |
Publication date | 1998 |
All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger is the autobiography of Lloyd Kaufman, published by Berkely Boulevard, a subsidiary of Penguin Putnam, in 1998. Kaufman is the co-founder of B-movie company Troma Entertainment and the director of such films as The Toxic Avenger , Class of Nuke 'Em High , and Terror Firmer . The book was written by both Kaufman and screenwriter James Gunn; they had previously collaborated on the 1996 film Tromeo and Juliet . Gunn went on to more mainstream prominence as the writer of Dawn of the Dead (2004) and the writer-director of Slither (2006) and the Marvel Studios 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy .
An autobiography is a self-written account of the life of oneself. The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English periodical The Monthly Review, when he suggested the word as a hybrid, but condemned it as "pedantic". However, its next recorded use was in its present sense, by Robert Southey in 1809. Despite only being named early in the nineteenth century, first-person autobiographical writing originates in antiquity. Roy Pascal differentiates autobiography from the periodic self-reflective mode of journal or diary writing by noting that "[autobiography] is a review of a life from a particular moment in time, while the diary, however reflective it may be, moves through a series of moments in time". Autobiography thus takes stock of the autobiographer's life from the moment of composition. While biographers generally rely on a wide variety of documents and viewpoints, autobiography may be based entirely on the writer's memory. The memoir form is closely associated with autobiography but it tends, as Pascal claims, to focus less on the self and more on others during the autobiographer's review of his or her life.
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet.
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore and splatter.
Contents
The book was written by Gunn after having numerous long interviews with Kaufman about his life. The book is written in a darkly humorous style, and is an unusual mish-mash of personal memories, how-to-make-movies advice, and pure flights of fantasy, such as the fictional ongoing struggles with the book's editor, Barry Neville. [1]
Gunn had this to say:
- Most of the scenes are real, though the dialogue had to be recreated. Some scenes, however, are pretty much fantasies – for instance, the fight scenes between Lloyd and Pat, and most of the stuff between Lloyd and the editor, Barry (who loved being our villain). In non-fiction, veracity is only important with people who might sue you. In a lot of ways the book was practice for melding fiction and fact, as I did in a more shadowy manner in The Toy Collector . Still, Lloyd’s hyperactive voice was so clearly in my head that I think the book is an accurate representation of who he is.
The book's working title was Sex, Violence, and Toxic Waste, but was changed by the publisher.
The introduction to the book was written by legendary B-movie producer, Roger Corman.
Roger William Corman is an American director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Much of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of low-budget cult films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.
