James Gunn

And I got a job at Troma to write a screenplay for a movie called Tromeo and Juliet for $150.

And I'm not saying that as an exaggeration.

I mean literally $150.

Troma was most known for the Toxic Avenger films.

They were...

like made a lot of money and then they made a, you know, they started out with sort of,

You know, TNA movies like Squeeze Play, stuff that, you know, I watched on Cinemax as a kid.

But that made money in theaters.

And then they made a bunch of movies that made a bunch of movie on videocassette.

So they actually made a lot of money in the 70s and 80s, and this was the 90s.

So they weren't making as much.

But they were never paying anyone for anything.

They made money for doing everything for free.

I mean, it was traumatic to work for them, you guys.

Well, Lloyd—

Lloyd Kaufman, the head of Troma, says that the word Troma means excellence in celluloid in Latin.

So I don't know how much... Well, that's what he says.

I don't think there's a Latin word for celluloid.

Yeah, like a more raw, rougher, I mean, the difference is that Corman just was 100% product, but Lloyd is kind of an artist.

It's just that his artistry is, not kind of, he's an artist, but his artistry is very blood splattery and sexual and very trashy, but there is a sort of feeling to trauma films that the AIP, Roger Corman's company's films didn't have.