The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 12, 1980, Page Page 9, Image 10
'Saueeze
A
By David Baker
Gamecock Film Critic
"We have a company softball
team," said producer-director
Lloyd Kaufman, "and one day we
had the idea that amateur softball
might be an amusing background
to film a comedy against. We
fiddled around with some stories,
then hired a screenwriter." The
result of Kaufman's work is
Squeeze Play, a new slapstick
comedy.
UNLIKE MOST OTHER films
playing here, Squeeze Play was
made and is being released without
the aid of a major distributor.
Kaufman's company, New Yorkbased
Troma, is handling every
aspect of Squeeze Play's journey to
the screen. "Two major companies
were interested in
distributing the film, but we felt
that we would do a better job.
Squeeze Play is a small film and
all of the actors in it are young
unknowns. We felt a large com
pany probably would dump it."
Kaufman said the biggest
problem facing young filmmakers,
like himself, is that they often can
not get their films distributed.
"And when they do get
distributed," he said, "very often
the distributor has no understanding
for the film or for why
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"I think things are going in an
unfortunate direction in that there
is less and less competition. It's
more and more difficult for new
people to make films. When I
started Troma, which was close to
10 years ago, there were a number
of small companies producing
feature length films. Now there
are practically none. What has
happened is that the smaller
companies have been gobbled up
or destroyed by the bigger ones."
KAUFMAN SAID Troma has
managed to stay in business
because the company has learned
to cut corners (Squeeze Play was
made for less than $1 million) and
because it distributes only four or
five films a year. Thus, Troma can
give each film the attention it
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To save money, Kaufman makes
his films on location. Shooting or
location also, he pointed out,
"keeps one foot in reality. Ther
you can relate to it, and wher
sometning wild happens, it's not
totally ridiculous because th
background is so real."
"There was a movie called
American Hot Wax, about rock and
roll in the '50's. It was supposed tc
take place in New York, but the
film was shot in Southern
California and it was very obvious.
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i looked so fake. It was not a bad
film, but it was offensive to have
i this phoney-looking location."
i KAUFMAN AND the people at
Troma have built a reputation on
J their knowledge of location
shooting. So much so that they
I were in charge of location shooting
I for Saturday Night Fever, as well
> as the Philadelphia scenes in
; Rocky. Kaufman is currently coi
producer of United Artists' The
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filmed on location in Virginia and
which will be released June 20.
BUT KAUFMAN'S main concern
at ihe moment is Saueeze
Play, because, he said, "It was
done outside the established way of
doing things. No banks or
conglomerates were involved and
anyone could have made it. If it's
the success that early boxoffice
results indicate, it may give a little
hope to the people who feel that the
business is impenetrable. "
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