53 years of Troma, The Toxic Avenger, and a full-circle 40-year reunion

Hey Reader!

Last night was an amazing full-circle moment for me ❤️

My guest was Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma Entertainment and the man behind The Toxic Avenger. The last time Lloyd and I were on a set together was 1984 in Hell's Kitchen, where I was being chased down a hospital corridor by Toxie (with real rats they had spray-painted black for the scene, by the way). Four decades later, we finally hugged in person again at Creature Feature in Gettysburg this year, and getting him on the show was something I had been looking forward to for a long time.

Lloyd is who James Gunn, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisa Tomei, and Vincent D'Onofrio all got an early shot from. He has been called your favorite director's favorite director, and once you hear his story, you understand why. He went to Yale to study Chinese, met his future business partner Michael Hertz in a dorm room, and 53 years later, Troma is the longest-running independent movie studio in history.

A few moments from the conversation I keep thinking about:

On finding his calling at the Yale Film Society:

"That's when I decided I'm going to give what I have to the world."

On personal success:

"I'm most proud that I have the same partner for more than 50 years and also the same wife too. That's a big deal."

On advice for young filmmakers in 2026:

"To thine own self be true. Do what you want."

On the mentors who shaped him: John Avildsen, Stan Lee, and Roger Corman.

He told us behind-the-scenes stories from the original Rocky shoot in Philadelphia (wetting the streets three times a day, mostly non-union, basically an underground movie) that I had never heard before!

Connect with Lloyd below: