Editor

Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma and creator of The Toxic Avenger, will deliver a keynote address at  the 'Packaged Media and Beyond' conference at The Wynn in Las Vegas on April 20, 2012. Kaufman will also appear at the Las Vegas screening of Father's Day that evening at Theatre 7.

Kaufman's keynote address opens the second day of the two-day conference - sponsored by the Media-Tech Association, the Colonial Purchasing Cooperative and the American Independent Media Manufacturers Association - which focuses on issues facing the physical media industry and the ever-changing media landscape as digital media becomes part of daily life. As consumer media usage evolves, traditional media content creator/distributors like Troma are transforming their business models to find new revenue streams in the new media marketplace.

"When home video first came in, we saw the potential for the magic - being movie nuts ourselves. We immediately loved it and embraced it." Remembers Kaufman of the home video revolution in the early 1980s. By that point, Troma had been in business for 10 years and had accumulated a robust catalog for a renting public. "The Toxic Avenger was the first horror-type film, although it's not really a horror film, to get VHS acclaim. Vestron released it, and it was a huge success." says Kaufman. "We understood that home video was a way to embrace our fans and for the fans to embrace us, and we got in ahead of the majors."

Not surprisingly, Troma also jumped on DVD early. "Being movie nuts, we liked that we could do commentary tracks and put a humorous, interactive tour of the Troma film studios as a bonus extra to go along with the movie. We also went back and interviewed actors for featurettes. Unfortunately, we spent a fair amount on creating DVDs before people actually had machines in their homes. It was pretty stupid, but at least we were there."

Kaufman will expound on the future of Troma and the industry, based on his nearly 40 years of failed filmmaking. More information about the packaged Media & Beyond conference is available at: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001irpkGNHM8rjcaQoKpAvNTOeTiDr08Wt2ZjyonN_oUx8xFQmpJnRXo_ADFcdLxYg63OeSTrTdKdvP3QC2HVg5L8t56v7Sl_38ZGg18Zduwvml6TuTuDxWzGr9-tgiZhQ-f0u_yVoPTZ9ByMmG5x0U_w==

Established in 1974 by Yale friends Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma Entertainment is one of the longest-running independent movie studios in United States history, and one of the best-known names in the industry. World famous for movie classics like Kaufman's The Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Class of Nuke'em High, Mother's Day and Tromeo and Juliet, Troma's seminal films are now being remade as big budget mainstream productions by the likes of Brett Ratner, Richard Saperstein, Akiva Goldsman, and Steven Pink. Among today's stars whose early work can be found in Troma's 800+ film library are Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Jenna Fischer, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Fergie, Vincent D'Onofrio and Samuel L. Jackson. Visit Troma at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001irpkGNHM8rjAohLBPSQKasbAiDREE4jTosQyDwayjFe1S4FLh37il2yo3h-OnOmH14NmYiWpK-BIUBLZiK5pmvKMdoC5uWASkzl0HJ_WzjQ=, http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001irpkGNHM8rgcxFsg1ot-UodfAsEq4t2uyyxG0e_6GU9ooF8WyAUh0eEDgfYzCU39KAJ_6gllbL99ZRWt8UW8nig1hY7nNA1L9dwHcnK1YUNsi_GI3aNT3w==, http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001irpkGNHM8riv88WnQzhFrE5PldbPIEzYYpWmOyQIVYcDL4x8ihZ0h_MqgLRlkxCNev7QCTrBZbUDdvoZcfOiG2ndTsqRMEfN2QTPSuSFvo9SOR1AK8kmik1suOTKgFSg, and http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001irpkGNHM8rhmFVz24d8uFNSjjzKkhPt06WLiBTd47pHI5NZAl1SJPF2jCMJDB9_udqh7JnS7fV9i5ymIIHDjxvsjvPPXonWCnPFwCiSsaDt1j5L5ZJjmDQ==.