TROMATIZED IN PARK CITY!  
By scot-free  

TROMADANCE 2003 in Park City, Utah was without a doubt the most fun I've ever had at a film festival, and it was all free! Meeting Lloyd Kaufman, founder of Troma was a dream come true. He was so nice in welcoming me and my short film "Gentrifucked" into his festival. He even autographed a beautiful picture of The Toxic Avenger for my Director of Photography, Matt, which was later given to him in lieu of proper cash payment. Later that night at a private party for the Independent Film Channel, all I had to say to the doorman to get in was "I know Lloyd Kaufman, I'm part of TROMADANCE". Fuck Yeah. The party sucked but I did get to see Illeana Douglas, Chloe Sevigney, Natasha Leone and I think I saw Natasha Gregson-Wagner. And that was just the first day!

          I read about all of the different films being shown at Sundance, Slamdance, Slamdunk, Nodance, etc., and I can honestly say that the movies at TROMADANCE excited me the most. At the opening night party I met some of the other filmmakers. Everyone was so nice and Lloyd made a point to announce our presence to the partygoers as well as letting them know when and where our films were being shown. When Lloyd overheard me giving directions to another filmmaker he publicly voiced his approval by stating "TROMADANCE filmmakers help each other, there's no Hollywood type backstabbing or jealously here".

          The first night of films was great. The crowd was big and pretty well liquored up. There was a lot of audience participation going on, some funny, most annoying. The stand-out films in the first program were "Glad to see you" by Danielo Garcia, "Come hard or don't come at all", a film very similar in subject matter to mine except set in LA instead of New York, and "eRATicate", which had a girls pet rats exacting sweet revenge against her abusive boyfriend. Other highlights were "My life is a movie", very funny stuff about a normal guy who wakes up and finds his life is literally a movie. "Just Desserts" was one of the most amazing films I've ever seen, it was about neighborhood kids fighting killer Jell-O with spoons they'd throw like ninja stars. "Working Stiff" was about this square guy in love with a Goth chick, she doesn't feel the same way so he kills himself. Death gets caught in some traffic and can't make it to take the boys soul so he becomes a pale faced, blood spewing zombie. When the boy approaches his crush now she finds him irresistible. "Torpor" by Mike Pecci was great, a stylish and creepy tale of a woman's journey to the morgue and beyond. "The Year Christmas Almost Wasn't" and "Bum Runner" with Wee-man from Jackass and Re-Run from Good times were both fucking hilarious and had the crowd in stitches. Later that night I saw Steve Buscemi at a Sundance screening and gave him a press kit hoping he'd come to my screening the following day.

                      My film "Gentrifucked" exposes the evils of gentrification while illustrating the dark and sometimes violent situations that arise when yuppies living it up "down and dirty" meet those truly in despair. My screening was on Main Street in Park City at the Phat Tire Saloon at 10:40am. Steve didnÕt make it but a good 7 or 8 other people did. I did a quick Q&A and after we saw Heidi SjursenÕs "Heckling Heidi Takes K-Mart", "The Adventures of Fratman and Pledgeboy", and "Deep Africa", three very funny movies my wife Darryl and I prepared ourselves for David Goecke's 45 min. documentary about a New Jersey Slaughterhouse called "On the Killing Room Floor". We met David the night before at the other TROMADANCE screening and to be honest, he scared me. He was very quiet and only seemed to laugh when someone on screen would die. When we showed up in the morning at the Phat Tire Saloon Jonathan Lees, Program Director of Tromadance told us he cut David's film because previous screenings of "On the Killing Room Floor" produced mass walkouts and protests. When I told him "David is here and he's pretty creepy, I don't know if you want to mess with him", Jonathan replied, "Fuck, I got to call Lloyd". Davids movie was screened with a warning from Lloyd and a plea of understanding. "This is art" Lloyd proclaimed. He was right, and it was also the best movie I saw in Park City.

                      Darryl, some of the other filmmakers including David and I all had lunch together and yes, we all ate meat. Getting to talk to David made me think twice about him and it turns out hes really a nice guy. Spotting Puck from MTVs "Real World" TV show, Festival Personality Heidi Sjursen sprang up from the table exclaiming "Im gonna go grab Pucks ass and invite him to the festival". Ben Oliver, one of the makers of "Torpor" followed her with camera in hand. Puck was on the street trying to convince passersby to come see some movie he was involved in when Heidi snuck up from behind him and squeezed both of his ass checks as hard as she could. Puck flipped out and slapped the TROMADANCE flyers from Heidi's hand and then attacked Ben. Ben stopped filming and he and Heidi returned to the pizza place where we were eating while Puck looked for a cop. "I'm gonna get your ass arrested for sexual assault" he threatened. Back at the table we were all watching the video we all named "When Pucks attack" and laughing when suddenly Puck came storming in. "I know Lloyd Kaufman and I'm gonna get you all fired" he threatened. "Stay right here, I'm calling the cops" he added. Heidi told him to calm down and the owner of the restaurant threw him out. We convinced Heidi she should lay low for awhile and she left. We got her food to go and brought it to her at an undisclosed location.

                     The TROMADANCE closing night party started with a bang with "Portland Organic Wrestling". When a gay wrestler dressed in a sailor uniform named Bruce D'anus took a shit in a plastic take out tray and hurled it at his opponent a big gob landed on my shirt and mouth. Thank God it was only chocolate cake mix, or at least that's what it tasted like. My favorite wrestler of the night definitely had to be Ashes Andy. The ring announcer explained that he was one of the many people on the plane on 911 that stormed the terrorists and forced the aircraft to crash in Pennsylvania. The ring announcer then yelled, "Let's roll" and the match was on. Ashes Andy's sidekick opened the can he was kept in and threw him in the face of his opponent while chanting U.S.A! U.S.A! Other wrestlers that night were Brigham Young, the only Hasidic Jewish wrestler in the world, the Bike Messenger, Anna Nicole Smith and Hillbilly Bear, who "Bear Hugged" his opponent into submission. Sycho Sid a.k.a. Sid Vicious of WWF fame was also there. He and Heidi did a performance piece together. The headliners of the party were Satanicide, a great band from New Jersey that I'd seen a couple times before. They brought me back to the eighties with their hair metal tribute/parody act. "No applause necessary, we know we're awesome" proclaimed the lead singer when they were done, and he was right. 

TromaDance 2003
by Gene Sung

TromaDance was the first festival I've ever had a film screen in. Before arriving in Park City, I simply did not know what to expect. The main reason I submitted my film to TromaDance was because they truly seemed like a festival that was not caught up in politics and who's who. And I have to say, especially after speaking with Jonathan Lees (festival director), that I was not dissappointed. Jonathan made it very clear that Troma was about getting exposure to those new filmmakers who don't have the clout or connections to have their films screened at the other "Dances." When my film was screened at the Brewvies in Salt Lake, it was the greatest single night of my life. The place was amazing -- big screen, great sound and a pack crowd inside a spacious theatre. Seeing a film I put my life into for a year being projected simply sent shivers through my body. It was a rush I have never experienced before. I think in the end, TromaDance was the best possible place to screen my first film because they truly define the word INDEPENDENT; and the Brewvies venue was the best possible place to screen films. Aside from all the seriousness of this letter, Troma had plenty of fun -- wrestling, drunkeness, naked girls, crazy people and just all out insanity. I have never experienced anything like TromaDance, and it cannot be described. The beautiful splendor and maddness must be experienced in person.