Absolutely. I considered Lloyd Kaufman and Troma part of the Trash Triumvirate - the other two members being John Waters and Russ Meyer.

2. A lot of your friends that were actors had roles in T&J. Did you write any of the roles specifically for them?

I wrote Sammy especially for my brother Sean. I was friends with Valentine Miele, but I didn't know he was such a good actor. He got the role of Murray based completely on some wonderful auditions. Same with anyone else.

3. Any interesting on-set stories that haven't already been covered in Lloyd's book or the DVD commentary?

Many. One of them is that Lemmy from Motorhead demanded to have a girl and a bottle of Jack Daniels on set with him while he was there. So we dressed up our location manager, Michelle, in a sexy outfit and she hung out with him, and we bought him a bottle of Jack. He wanted to change his lines, and I got pissed off. He had some new lines he was going to use. Later, when it came time to shoot, he was drunk and couldn't remember his lines so he wanted cue cards. He gave his new lines to the cue card guy. But I intercepted them and had the guy writing out the cue cards just write down my original lines and the old fuck never even noticed. To this day he still thinks he wrote those lines. I heard him talking about it on TV a while back.

Later on, Lemmy went to a strip club with Lloyd, and Lemmy's false teeth fell out of his mouth while getting a lap dance. He came running over to Lloyd, all panicked, wanting him to drive him home before any of the girls saw his gummy mouth.

Later, during Citizen Toxie, Lemmy punched my friend Patrick Cassidy in the face for asking him to come to set.

The guy's a jerk. I know a lot of people like Motorhead's music, but, in person, Lemmy's pathetic - he looks like a senior citizen dressed up like a rock star for Halloween.

In truth, Sean and I DID DO a commentary track for the TROMEO DVD - but because Lloyd and Michael were afraid of getting sued for the above stories as well as many others, the track wasn't put on the DVD. The track still exists in the Troma building. Write to Lloyd and let him know you want the track on all further pressings of the TROMEO DVD!!

4. Speaking of Lloyd's book, about how much did you write in it?

Well, Lloyd and I would spend marathon sessions where he would tell me about his life, and I'd take notes. Then I'd go home and write the book. Sometimes Lloyd would add a pun or two to what I wrote, but essentially I wrote all of it.

5. Was the Troma's Edge TV you said you wrote for anything like the new Troma's Edge TV on Channel 4 in the UK?

Probably. We did all sorts of stuff and we did it quickly. Some of it can be seen on Troma DVDs (the Kabukiman Masturbation PSA and the Hamster PSA are a couple of things I wrote and directed for Troma's edge TV.) Many of the introductions to the movies you see on the DVD's were originally for Troma's edge TV. All the Tromettes being named with 'a' endings started there - Melvina, Bulimia, Necrophilia, etc.

6. Honestly, are you sick of hearing your film The Specials compared to Mystery Men?

Nope. It's better than being compared to Citizen Kane.

7. Did your work on Tromeo and Juliet help you get any of your latest writing gigs?

Yes, but mostly because it taught me how to write a movie. When I was hired to write TROMEO I didn't even have a scriptwriting program. I didn't know script format. I ran down to the bookstore and bought a published copy of SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE and copied that format, using Microsoft Word.

By being able to sit through many screenings of TROMEO I was able to see what an audience reacted to, what they liked, and what they didn't. My favorite sequence - almost everyone's favorite, actually - starts when Murray goads Tyrone into killing him and ends with the car flip. Even audiences that were bored the rest of the movie seemed to like that part. I remembered what it was like writing that scene, and filming it, and I thought, 'Ah ha! The next movie I make is going to be like that scene, throughout the whole thing.' It hasn't happened yet - but one day soon.

8. Referring to a similar question in the Debbie Rochon interview, are you a little afraid of the backlash from your Dawn of the Dead remake? For the record, I was a little angry about it at first, until I remembered how much I liked the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead.

Believe it or not, eighty percent of the mail I get concerning DAWN OF THE DEAD is positive, in the 'I support you' vein. The other twenty percent is death threats, but, oh well...

All I can say is I wrote the project with honesty and integrity, with great respect and love for the original and for zombie movies in general. How people react to that act is their business, not mine. The script is not a direct remake - it takes the premise of people trapped in a mall during a flesheating zombie apocalypse and goes from there. Romero deserves credit for this premise, as well as the financial rewards he'll gain from such a film. He seems to be happy with the project and hopes, as I do, it will help to get him backing for his next zombie movie.

All this said, if the studio or production company hires a director I do not respect, I will walk away from this film. The script is special to me, and it will break my heart to see it compromised.

9. Okay, now on to the unoriginal filler questions. What are some of your favorite movies?

Off the top of my head - After Hours. Once Upon a Time in the West. Mudhoney. Dawn of the Dead. Hail the Conquering Hero. Basketcase. Audition. Obsession. Life Is Sweet. Fong Sai Yuk. Touch of Evil. Toy Story II. Taxi Driver. Groundhog Day. Galaxy Quest. La Strada. The Night of the Hunter. Sweet Smell of Success. Room at the Top. Bottle Rocket. The Boys of Saint Vincent. Trust. Red to Kill. Y Tu Mamma Tambien. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the original, mostly). The Long Goodbye. Chinatown. Tootsie. Hard-boiled. Meet the Parents. The Right Stuff. The 400 Blows. Vertigo. Unforgiven. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. The Brood, Shivers - in fact, almost anything by David Cronenberg. And many, many others - as you can see, sort of an eclectic mix.

10. Favorite music?

Super Furry Animals, the Clash, Elvis Costello, They Might Be Giants, Cherry Twister, Alice Cooper, Weezer - and a lot of my friends' music - Willie Wisely, Jane Jensen, Bill Boll, The Raymakers, Tim Gallaher.

11. What projects does the future have in store for you? Any plans to write another Troma movie?

We start shooting Scooby 2 in April. I've been acting in a short film my wife Jenna is directing called LOLLILOVE. We're still moving forward with DAWN OF THE DEAD and a romantic comedy I wrote called THE NEWLYWEDS. But after my commitments to these films are over, I'm going to direct a lower-budget film from my own script. The financial success of SCOOBY has allowed me the freedom to do what I want to do, and I'm excited about it.

In terms of writing another Troma movie - you never know. I still like being involved with Troma no matter what they're working on. I was just hanging out with Lloyd and Pat in New York a couple of weeks ago. Troma's my home -- it's the petri dish where I was conceived.

12. Anything else you'd like to say?

TROMEO was one of the best experiences of my life. I met some of my best friends on that film, like Lloyd and Stevie Blackehart and Jane Jensen. Although I've gone on to more financially successful films, it's still my favorite movie, and in many ways I think it's my best.

Also, I have a large T & J section on my website, www.jamesgunn.com, with interviews with many cast members, and downloads of scenes from the film. You can download some stuff from Troma's Edge TV there as well.