Table of Contents

Introduction: Charlie Kaufman is My Doppelganger or Why I Want to Blow My Fucking Brains Out

Preamble to Chapter 1 Ask Lloyd: Penniless in Pittsburgh

Chapter 1: Producing Models and Car Models or Producing America's Next Top Tromodel

Preamble to Chapter 2 Ask Lloyd: Nervous in Naples

Chapter 2: How I Got a Rabbi To Hate Jews or How I Let Oliver Stone Beat the Crap Out of me to Hone his Producer Skills

Preamble to Chapter 3 Ask Lloyd: So Close in So. Cal

Chapter 3: Film School or Porno? Taint No Difference or My Dinner with Louis Su

Preamble to Chapter 4 Ask Lloyd: Losing It In Las Vegas

Chapter 4: Producing Movies Inevitably Gets You Stoned (and is Really, Really Hard) or A Union Dose of Some Shirley Jackson Optimism Goes a Long Way

Preamble to Chapter 5 Ask Lloyd: Eager in Erie

Chapter 5: Is There a Business Plan? Is IMDB Ass? or Secrets of Financing and Producing from the Pickled Brain of an Elaborate Non-Pyramid Schemer

Intermission: Andy Deemer Production Diaries

Preamble to Chapter 6 Ask Lloyd: Starstruck in Starbucks

Chapter 6: Pre-Sell Your Flick in a Game of Five Card Stud or Go For a Straight Flush

Preamble to Chapter 7 Ask Lloyd: Anxious in Anchorage

Chapter 7: Fuck Me Jesus on a Pogo Stick! - WHERE am I Going to Produce My Own Damn Movie? or The Secrets of The Location Vocation

Preamble to Chapter 8 Ask Lloyd: Pumped Up In Peoria

Chapter 8: How To Do It Hollywood Style or Lloyd Kaufman is the Herpes of the Film Industry. He Won't Go Away.

Preamble to Chapter 9 Ask Lloyd: Frustrated in Frankfurt

Chapter 9: Face the Music: Post-Production and Distribution, or Pump Up Your Production to a Higher Level

Preamble to Afterword Ask Lloyd: Frugal in Fargo

TromAfterword

A Trio of E-mail Exchanges Among Ashley, Elinor and Lloyd, and A Final Final Ending to This Book About Producing

Index

About the Author

Lloyd Kaufman is one of the very few genuine auteur filmmakers. He has written, produced, and/or directed more than 25 films, including "The Toxic Avenger", "Terror Firmer", "Tromeo and Juliet", and "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead". Kaufman is president of the world-famous Troma Entertainment, the oldest and, arguably, the longest-running truly independent film studio in history. He is also the president of the IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance), whose members produce more than 400 independent films and countless hours of television programming each year and generate more than $4 billion in distribution revenues annually.

Reviews

Kaufman is a true original, a filmmaker who has used the freedom of low budgets and disreputable genres to express subversive political views and provide gobs of gore and gratuitous nudity. It is hard to think of another book that is simultaneously so honest and so inspiring; the fact that it is also smart, hilarious and informative makes Produce Your Own Damn Movie! a real treasure. - Jim Hemphill, American Cinematographer Magazine"Founder of Troma Entertainment, the longest-running entertainment studio, Kaufman knows what he's talking about when it comes to producing your own indie movie. With candid interviews featuring some of the best producers working in the field, Kaufman shares funny, helpful tips on how to get your movie made." - Goldy Moldavsky, Independent Magazine"[Kaufman is] humorous, smart, observant, educated and at times completely insane. All the workings of a long-time producer. Lloyd goes over financials, selling films, making films cheaply and reusing scenes as much as you can get away with. Now that's talent!." - HorrorNews.net"Candid interviews, tips, tricks and tidbits scattered throughout the DVD give filmmakers practical tools for getting a movie shoot off the ground, keeping it afloat and seeing it through to the end- Lloyd Kaufman shows you how it's really done."--Horrorbid.com!"[D]on't expect to plop this in the tray and be led from point A to point B, thinking you'll soon know exactly what to do. However, you'll still get a ton of useful advice, especially if you're a good study, and you'll probably watch certain segments multiple times as you get ready to produce your own damn movie. But even more casual movie fans (sure, I'd like to write a few screenplays some day - who wouldn't?) such as myself can find plenty of entertainment while enjoying these 'on the down low' interviews with indie movie greats. Lloyd's always got a trick up his sleeve, but here amongst the rock bottom production costs of this set is a treasure trove of information."--DVDTalk.com"With the advent of digital cameras and affordable home editing studios, who needs film school anymore? Sure that diploma might look great on your mom's wall, but really, isn't the best film school just going out there and making your own damn movie? Lloyd Kaufman, founder of Troma, the longest-running ultra-indie film studio in America, believes so. In this third installment of his Make Your Own Damn Movie series, he (with help from other low-budget filmmakers) offers advice on how to raise money, make the most of available production values and locations, develop business plans, and pre-sell your movie, all filtered through that irrepressibly irreverent Kaufman persona Troma fans have come to love over the years. This series is better than any film school, with more real-world, "learn by doing" applications for those of us who'll never be in the director's chair for a big corporate studio. And that's OK. They'll only water down your erotic zombie thriller anyway."--Colorado Springs Independent