Howdy do, everyone, Papa Vinyard here.
I hate that Troma is still so underappreciated that this story was able to slip under everyone's radar until today. About a week ago, Crave Online posted an interview with the legendary co-founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman, promoting his presence at Cannes and his upcoming RETURN TO NUKE 'EM HIGH. In the interview, they asked him if he was proud of James Gunn getting the profile-boosting gig directing GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. His reply was a nonchalant, "Yeah, he’s giving me a part. I’m going to be in his movie. I’m going to London at the end of June to play a small part." When pressed for details, and whether we'll even recognize him amongst the expensive CGI mayhem, he elaborated, "We’ll see what happens. James is a good guy. I think it’ll be interesting just to see what it’s like and I’ll shoot some behind the scenes."
I'm a big fan of Uncle Lloyd's work with Troma, and have been since I was a kid, and as cool as it is to see his TROMEO AND JULIET screenwriter snag this kind of big-budget opportunity, it is just as cool to see Gunn keeping his former mentor around as tribute. I've heard firsthand stories of the grueling Troma production method, and it involves a lot of people (many of them young and inexperienced) doing a ton of physical-intensive work without much (if any) promise of pay. Their works, whether you love them or hate them, are labors of love that have, despite their often-anarchic content, managed to keep Troma independently successful for decades now. To link that kind of "Make Your Own Damn Movie" (as one of Lloyd's books is called) school of filmmaking with the company responsible for the biggest international hits around makes me love James Gunn just a little bit more. Can't wait to look for Mr. Kaufman when GUARDIANS rolls out next year.
-Vincent Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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