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Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, and the founder of View Askew Productions. He is also known as a comic book writer and actor.

Smith's films are often set in his home state of New Jersey and are filled with pop culture references, particularly to comic books and the Star Wars movies. Many of Kevin's films take place in the "View Askewniverse" and feature appearances from small-time marijuana dealers Jay and Silent Bob, the latter portrayed by Smith himself.

As a Director

Married to Jennifer Schwalbach Smith. Clerks debuted at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival where it saw almost no audience during the first few days. More people started seeing the movie as days went on and it eventually got the attention of executives at Miramax. Initially, the film was given an NC-17 rating, based exclusively on its profanity. Because the NC-17 rating is thought to be hurtful to a movie's box office performance, Miramax and Smith entered into a court battle with the Motion Picture Association of America, and eventually succeeded in getting the film's rating lowered to an R. The film became a success on the growing independent film circuit, was shown during non-concert hours at Woodstock 1994, and eventually earned a limited national release near the end of 1994. In ensuing years, it became a far-reaching inspiration for budding directors, proving that it was possible to make a movie for $27,000 and have it see wide successful release.

In 1995, Smith wrote and directed Mallrats, the second film in the so-called "Jersey Trilogy". Mallrats chronicles the romantic difficulties of two slackers (played by Jason Lee and Jeremy London) who spend their days hanging around a shopping mall. The film also featured a post-Beverly Hills 90210 Shannen Doherty and a pre-fame Ben Affleck. A more typical Hollywood comedy than Clerks, Mallrats was a failure with critics as well as at the box office, and Smith later found himself haunted by a tongue-in-cheek apology he made at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards. Universal had said that they wanted it to be a "smart Porky's." Smith later remarked in his question and answer session, An Evening with Kevin Smith, that Universal executives pressured him to cut scenes, including a scene where Silent Bob (Smith himself) masturbates while watching Gwen (played by Joey Lauren Adams) changing in a dressing room, and he ejaculates over the partition into her hair. According to the scene, her hair would be altered as a result (as famously seen two years later in There's Something About Mary), but the executives claimed that the gross-out factor was too disgusting to be comedic.

In 2001, Smith released Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and announced that it would be the last film set in the View Askewniverse. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) criticized the movie arguing that it contained humor at the expense of gay men. When Smith responded by saying that the Jay and Silent Bob characters were satire of young male "idiots" GLAAD suggested that he donate to the Matthew Shepard Foundation (which Smith did).

In previous years, Smith had quietly performed question and answer sessions at colleges and comic book conventions around the country. However, as he could not reach every college, and because he wanted a permanent record of what went on at these events, Smith filmed several of the sessions and compiled a DVD, titled An Evening with Kevin Smith. The DVD was such a success that Smith decided to film a second DVD titled An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder at sessions in Toronto and London, which was released on November 28th, 2006 coinciding with the release of the special edition DVD of Clerks II.

In 2004, Smith released Jersey Girl, a film about a man (Ben Affleck) struggling to raise his daughter after the death of his wife (played by Jennifer Lopez). It was the first of Kevin's feature films to have no continuity with the "View Askewniverse" series. George Carlin and Liv Tyler starred alongside Affleck in the comedic drama. The film opened to mixed reviews [1], lackluster box office [2], and disappointment by fans. Smith referred to the film as his "fatherhood movie", and found bittersweet comfort that he was able to share the film with his own father just before his death.

Clerks II revisited View Askewniverse characters Dante and Randal, and was set ten years after the events of Clerks. The credits for this film ended with a line that read, "Jay and Silent Bob might return someday. Right now, they're taking it easy."

Smith's films often feature the same actors, including Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, (for whom he wrote the lead role in "Chasing Amy"), Jason Mewes, and Matt Damon. Other well-known performers featured in more than one Smith film include Chris Rock, Shannen Doherty, George Carlin, Ethan Suplee, Joe Quesada, Jason Biggs and Alanis Morissette. Some lesser known regulars in Smith's films include Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Scott Mosier, Ernest O'Donnell, John Willyung, Carmen Lee, Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran, Dwight Ewell, Kimberly Loughran, Casey Affleck and Vincent Pereira. Also, he casts himself in nearly all of his movies (a notable exception being Jersey Girl).

Acting roles

As an actor, Smith is best known for his role as Silent Bob, in Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II, and with Jason Mewes as a cameo in the horror movie Scream 3.

Smith also appeared in a cameo role as Jack Kirby in the film Daredevil, and starred in friend and fellow writer-director Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, to be released in 2006, in which he plays legless Iraqi war veteran and celebrity gossip hound Simon Thiery. Recently, he worked on the film Catch and Release, co-starring Jennifer Garner and is also the voice of Moose in the North American version of the CGI children's film Doogal.

Comic writer

A life-long comic book fan, Kevin's early forays into comic books dealt with previously established View Askew characters, and were published by Oni Press. He wrote a short Jay and Silent Bob story about Walt Flanagan's dog in Oni Double Feature #1, and followed it with a Bluntman and Chronic story in Oni Double Feature #12.

He followed these with a series of Clerks comics. The first was simply Clerks: The Comic Book, which told of Randal's attempts to corner the market on Star Wars toys. The second was Clerks: Holiday Special, where Dante and Randal discover that Santa Claus lives in an apartment between the Quick Stop and RST Video. Third was Clerks: The Lost Scene, showing what happened inside Poston's Funeral Parlor. (This issue was later animated and included as an extra on the 10th Anniversary Clerks DVD.) These will all be collected in the forthcoming trade Tales From the Clerks, which also includes a new story.

Smith has written a comic mini-series Chasing Dogma, which tells the story of Jay and Silent Bob between the films Chasing Amy and Dogma. He has also written the trade paperback Bluntman and Chronic, published by Image, which purports to be a collection of the three issues of the series done by Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards (of Chasing Amy). It includes a color reprinting of the story from Oni Double Feature #12, purported to be an early appearance by McNeil and Edwards.

Smith makes occasional mention of his desire to do a comic miniseries about Bartleby and Loki (from Dogma), as well as a comic-only sequel to Mallrats called Mallrats 2: Die Hard in a Mall.

In 1999 he won a Harvey Award, for Best New Talent in comic books.

Marvel and DC Comics

Smith began a lengthy association with Marvel Comics in 1999 with Smith taking over as the writer of the Marvel Comic Daredevil. His run, which lasted eight issues, was plagued by delays (which artist Joe Quesada publicly took responsibility for, though it was a sign of things to come). His tenure on Daredevil was a commercial hit for Marvel, but was controversial among Daredevil fans. Some fans accused Smith of misogyny in his handling of Karen Page's death, and others objected to the killing of long-time Spiderman foe Mysterio in a non-Spiderman series. John Byrne (then-current writer on one of the Spider-Man titles)would later bring the character back within a few months, with a different identity.

Kevin Smith followed this by jumping to DC Comics, producing a 15 issue run on Green Arrow that saw the return of Ollie Queen from the dead and the introduction of Mia Dearden, a teenage girl who would become Speedy after Smith's run had ended. Unlike his Daredevil run, Smith's Green Arrow run was a huge critical success. After his initial "rebirth" storyline Quiver, there was also a short arc featuring a new villain.

Smith returned to Marvel for two mini-series: Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do and Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target. The former is six issues long; the first three issues were published, followed by a delay of three years before the final three. It deals with Black Cat, about having been raped and trying to help another rape survivor come to terms with it. The latter is supposed to be four issues although only one issue was published, in January of 2003. As of July, 2006, there has been no word when this series will be completed.

Kevin Smith was also approached and offered a chance to write an ongoing Spider-Man book in 2002, but turned down the request when he was told that, as a condition of taking the assignment, that Smith would have to have his first Spider-Man story feature the ending of Spider-Man's marriage to his longtime wife Mary Jane. Allegedly Smith's reputation in the comics world had become a very negative one due to his delays and knew that his name would be mud if he took the book and ended Spider-Man's marriage.

Other projects in the works include Clerks: Sell Out, the feature-length animated film done in the Clerks: The Animated Series style. [3] Next up for him is a new, non-Askewniverse comedy that he is apparently in the process of writing now [4], [5]. Smith announced at the Wizard World convention that his next project would be a horror movie as he stated that he wanted to move in a different direction. A video of his announcement, as well as a game of rock, paper, scissors he played with a fan to determine whether he would announce his next project, is available.

Other projects and media appearances

Film

Smith was co-executive producer for the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, assisting friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck with making and marketing their film. After Damon and Affleck received Academy Awards for their screenplay, critics alleged that Smith himself was responsible for the script, a rumor which Smith vehemently denies. In 1997, Smith was hired by New Line to rewrite Overnight Delivery (1998) which was expected to be a blockbuster teen movie. Smith's then-girlfriend Joey Lauren Adams almost took the role of Ivy in the movie instead of the female lead in Chasing Amy. Eventually she lost out to Reese Witherspoon, and Overnight Delivery was quietly released directly to video. Kevin Smith's involvement with the film was only revealed when he wrote about his experience with it in an online column. [6].

For a time Smith was working on a script for a Superman movie but the script was eventually discarded when Tim Burton was attached to the product. Smith was enthusiastic beforehand about Burton's hiring, citing Burton's work on Batman. Burton began shifting direction, however, eventually cutting Smith and his script out of the process. In the end neither Smith's nor Burton's vision for Superman were filmed. Years later Smith noted the similarity between a scene in one of his comics and a scene in Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes. As Smith explained in a question and answer session featured on An Evening with Kevin Smith, he had jokingly accused Burton of stealing his idea, a comment that ended up being reported in the media as a serious accusation. Burton issued a stern denial, noting that "Anybody who knows me knows I would never read a comic book. And I certainly would never read anything written by Kevin Smith." Smith's only response to Burton's comments was, "Which I guess explains Batman."

Smith has been known to do script rewrites, including a draft of the movie Coyote Ugly though, according to Smith, no dialogue from his draft made it to the final film. Not long after Clerks, Smith pitched an idea called "Bussing" about bus boys, described as "Clerks in a restaurant". This idea seems to have been reborn into the 2005 movie Waiting... by writer/director Rob McKittrick who credits Smith for the opportunities he has now. Smith also wrote a screenplay for a film version of The Six Million Dollar Man.

In 2002, Smith pressed his bosses at Miramax to pick up the rights to Gregory McDonald's Fletch series. Smith hoped to helm a movie adaptation of Fletch Won, with the intention of making it more faithful to the original novel than the popular Chevy Chase films. Smith hoped to cast View Askew regular Jason Lee in the title role but was nixed by Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Smith spoke to Zach Braff about the possibility of taking the role, which he eventually accepted. In October 2005, Smith abandoned the project.

Smith has written a screenplay for a new film version of The Green Hornet. The Miramax head Harvey Weinstein at the time attempted to draft Smith to direct the film, but Smith eventually backed out, noting that his directing style wasn't really "visual" enough to pull off a big-budget action movie.

Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers is his newest project. He has described the project as "My stab at a comic-book/sci-fi movie. It's in the vein of Flash Gordon, something I've noodled with a couple of years. Now I feel we are mature enough filmmakers to tackle it." [7].

Print

Smith released his first book, Silent Bob Speaks, a collection of essays dissecting pop culture, the movie-making business, and Smith's personal life. The book was a success, selling out its first printing.

Television

Sucks Less with Kevin Smith

This is an MTVu show that gives college students an idea of things to do on the weekends.

Clerks: The Animated Series

In 2000, Smith and Mosier teamed up with television writer David Mandel (Seinfeld and SNL) to develop an animated television show based on Clerks. This was an idea Smith had been kicking around since the production of Mallrats and, after pitching it to nearly every major television network, ABC TV picked it up for airing in March 2000.

After being delayed to May, Clerks: The Animated Series aired only two episodes, out of order, before being cancelled as a result of poor ratings. The six produced episodes were released on DVD in 2001, marking one of the first occasions in which a very short-lived TV series found success in the DVD format. Smith has also cameoed in the second season premiere of the sitcom Joey, where he played himself, on an episode of Law & Order in 2000 (episode "Black, White and Blue" playing Tony's wife's nephew), Duck Dodgers (2003 as Hal Jordan, voice only) and Yes, Dear (2004, as himself). Smith has also created and appeared in several short "Roadside Attractions" segments for The Tonight Show, detailing trips to random locations around the country. These segments are collected on the Jersey Girl DVD. Smith also appeared in the second episode of season two of Veronica Mars, playing, appropriately, a store clerk. He stated on his webpage that Veronica Mars is some of the best television work ever produced.[8]

Smith has also filled in for the ill Roger Ebert on 2 episodes of Ebert & Roeper.

In early 2005, Smith appeared in three episodes of the Canadian-made Degrassi: The Next Generation television show. In the episodes, Smith, portraying himself, visited the school to work on the (fictional) film Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh!. Smith wrote all his dialogue for the shows he appeared in.

In addition to appearing on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Kevin Smith is an avid fan of the original Degrassi series, Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High and references to the original are present in some of his early films.

Secret Stash

Smith owns and operates Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey, a comic book store largely dedicated to merchandise related to his films; a second Secret Stash in the Westwood section of Los Angeles was opened in September 2004.

Manchild

Smith has recently accepted a role in an upcoming Showtime television series pilot, "Manchild". The Pilot will be filmed in December of 2006. Smith will play the role of "Paul", a cynical husband. Smith explains why he took the role not only as a side job in addition to directing, but to learn more about acting.

On the Internet

Kevin has also become well known for the relationship between himself and his fans. He posts almost daily at his web board [9] where he posts new information about his films, and interacts with the fans. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back's fictional website MoviePoopShoot.com became real in 2002, converting into an entertainment website covering movies, music, comics, toys, and video games. It is now Quick Stop Entertainment.

Fan gatherings

Since 1998, he's also held a private film festival called Vulgarthon in Red Bank, New Jersey (except in 2005 when it was held in Los Angeles) where fans can buy tickets to come out, see around five films, and meet many of the cast and crew. These events usually have fans flying in from different countries to attend. So far, there have been five Vulgarthons. The most recent, Vulgarthon 2006, featured screenings of the then-yet-to-be released Clerks II. Besides Smith himself, guests have included Brian O'Halloran, Jason Mewes, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jeff Anderson, and Smith's wife Jennifer. As of 2006, he has an active myspace account. (see links below)

In July 2005, at a Q & A in Vancouver, BC, Smith was awarded an honorary degree from the Vancouver Film School, where Smith was a student for four months before dropping out [10].

Smith's longest Q&A session took place April 2nd, 2005 at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey The sold out event was over seven hours long, took place from 8PM through 3AM (which due to daylight savings, was actually 4AM). After he finished the Q&A, he opened up Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash just down the road to do a meet and greet with the numerous remaining audience members. The meet and greet ended around 6:30AM. Smith then hopped a plane and did another Q&A at the Raue Center For The Arts in Crystal Lake, Illinois that night. Planned for 2 hours, it lasted just over 5 hours, ending a little after 1AM Central time.

Cultural references & trivia

• In May 2004, Montclair State University awarded Smith an honorary PhD.
• On May 7, 2000, Illinois Wesleyan University awarded Smith an honorary doctorate.
• He has a street named after him in Paulsboro, New Jersey (where he filmed "Jersey Girl"), "Kevin Smith Way". The road leads to Paulsboro High School, where Smith used the auditorium for several scenes in the movie.
• Smith is a fan of the Star Wars saga, and he frequently references Star Wars in his films. Additionally, he references Jaws, various comic book characters, and the sport of hockey in many of his works.
• Compared to his love of Star Wars, Smith is not a fan of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; he thinks the movies are nothing more than a couple of guys going for a walk. His views are expressed in the film Clerks 2 from the dialogue of Randal.
• Smith is a fan of Battlestar Galactica and will be choosing it as his "Pick of the Week" on his second Ebert & Roeper appearance.
• Named his daughter Harley Quinn Smith, after the character from the Batman comic books.[11]
• Never smoked until his debut film, Clerks where he used the cigarettes as a prop, but never actually inhaled. Afterwards, he became a two-pack a day smoker.
• Is "specially thanked" on Weezer's fourth album Maladroit. Smith closed his second movie Mallrats with a Weezer song "Suzanne."
• In the third season of the HBO series Entourage, Michael Bay and Kevin Smith are directing and writing Aquaman 2. In reality, Smith wrote a script for the Superman Lives movie, while Bay was attached to direct a separate Superman movie.

Filmography

Writer and director

• Clerks (1994)
• Mallrats (1995)
• Chasing Amy (1997)
• Dogma (1999)
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
• Jersey Girl (2004)
• Clerks II (2006)
• Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers (2008) (unconfirmed)

Producer

• Clerks
• Mallrats (uncredited)
• Drawing Flies
• A Better Place
• Chasing Amy (uncredited)
• Good Will Hunting (co-producer)
• Dogma (uncredited)
• Vulgar
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (uncredited)
• Jersey Girl (uncredited)
• Clerks II

Actor

• Clerks
• Mallrats
• Drawing Flies
• Chasing Amy
• Dogma
• Scream 3
• Vulgar
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• Daredevil
• Doogal
• Clerks II
• Southland Tales
• Bottom's Up
• Catch and Release
• Veronica Mars
• Tail Lights Fade
• Joey
• Degrassi: The Next Generation (TV Series)

Awards

• 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Won the Award of the Youth (Foreign Film) for Clerks and won the Mercedes-Benz Award.
• 1994 Deauville Film Festival. Won the Audience Award for Clerks. Also nominated for the Critic's Award.
• 1994 Sundance Film Festival. Co-winner of the Filmmakers Trophy for Clerks. Also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
• 1995 Independent Spirit Awards. Nominated (with Scott Mosier) for Best First Feature and for Best First Screenplay for Clerks.
• 1997 Independent Spirit Awards. Won Best Screenplay for Chasing Amy.
• 1997 Butaca Awards. Nominated for Best Art House Film for Chasing Amy.
• Nominated for the 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer
• 1999 Harvey Awards. Won Best New Talent for Daredevil/Bullseye: Target, Clerks: The Comic Book and the Jay & Silent Bob series.
• 2000 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards. Nominated for Best Screenplay, Original for Dogma.
• 2000 Independent Spirit Awards. Nominated for Best Screenplay for Dogma.
• Nominated for the 2000 Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer.
• 2001 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Awards. Nominated for Best Script for Dogma.
• 2005 Empire Awards, UK. Won the Independent Spirit Award.
• 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival, UK - Standard Life Audience Award chosen by audience votes from the Gala and British Gala sections of the Film Festival for Clerks II.

Bibliography

• The Dueling Personas of Kevin Smith
• An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith

External links

• Kevin Smith on MySpace
• The View Askewniverse
• His blog
• Comic Book Awards Almanac
• Pixel Pound
• Showbiz Notes Kevin Smith's run in with Jon Peters
• Kevin Smith - The Independents
• InnerVIEWS with Ernie Manouse: Kevin Smith (TV Interview)
• Radio Interview with Kevin Smith from FBi 94.5 Sydney Australia
• Mae Day- Kevin Smiths first film, a documentary shot while in film school

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