9 Horror Directors Who Deserve An Honorary Oscar

Lloyd Kaufman makes small, independently financed pictures, and since co-founding Troma entertainment he’s become a guru of backyard filmmakers who’s done more to help DIY directors than anyone, including Roger Corman. Oliver Stone made his screen debut in the Kaufman-directed The Battle Of Love’s Return and future Oscar winner Marisa Tomei (Aunt May in Spider-Man: Homecoming) first appeared in The Toxic Avenger, while Troma distributed Cannibal The Musical, the first feature from the makers of South Park.

Kaufman’s biggest find was James Gunn, who he hired to script Tromeo & Juliet in 1996, little realizing his protégé would go on to write Scooby Doo, the Dawn Of The Dead remake and Guardians Of The Galaxy. The filmmaker’s real claim to fame, however, is turning down Madonna not once, not twice but three times for a role in 1983’s The First Turn On. The man really does have an eye for talent.

Even if you’ve never seen one of Kaufman’s thrifty pictures, you’ve felt his Corman-esque influence on the industry, from distributing an early film from director John G Avildsen (who later won Best Director for Rocky) to releasing Malibu Hot Summer, which marked the first screen appearance of one Kevin Costner.