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Intro
In 1993 if you asked some random person on the street who Kevin Smith was, they would have stared at you blankly, backed slowly, and then ran for their lives. Asking the same question today would begin a twenty minute conversation on how badass Kevin is. This page is here to show you the man underneath the trenchcoat, Kevin Smith.
Just Another Clerk
In 1993 Kevin Smith was a convenient store worker -- that's right, the guys who sell you cigarettes, and who you laugh at cause they have shitty jobs -- paid minimum wage with nothing but a dream to be a filmaker.
Film School
Kevin saved his money working at the Quick Stop and used it to help him achieve his dream. He went to a film school in Canada (movies eh?) where he met one of his now great friends, who works as his producer to this day, Scott Mosier. Though neither liked the other at first the two became friends while doing a project in class together. Kevin decided this film program was too much theory and chose to leave before completing this program and return to New Jersey the two friends made a deal that whoever finished a script for their movie first would get help making it from the other. Kevin wrote Clerks and Scott went to New Jersey to help him film it.
Clerks
Kevin had a script and a partner, but nothing else. Having saved only a couple thousand dollars by leaving the film program early he was still without the necessary funds to make a movie. Kevin came up with a scam that would either be extremely smart and make him money, or extremely dumb and leave him in debt for the rest of his life. He got a ton of credit cards and maxed them all out! Kevin had the balls to bank the rest of his life on the success of Clerks! So still extremely underfunded he had about $27,000.
Given that Kevin didn't have a ton of money hiring big time actors to do the movie was out of the question. So what to do? Simple, he called some friends from high school and asked them for a favor. It is these friends who have continued to make cameos in his movies (see View Askew Alums page). After shooting for days at his usual workplace (Quick Stop) Kevin finally had his movie.
Clerks was an instant success, at both film festivals and in theaters, and Smith was praised, especially for his natural sounding dialogue as well as for his ability to pick apart pop-culture and make fun of it. Kevin became the face of independent film breaking new ground and paving the way for future unknown screenwriters. So now that Kevin had money and made a name for himself what was next?
What's Next?
Kevin wanted to play off of the success of Clerks and so he wrote a script for a film called Mallrats which he considered to be similar to Clerks. He received a couple million to make Mallrats, and for the first time in his life got the chance to pick his actors, it was here that he met two now famous actors who shoot films with him to this day (once again see View Askew alums page), Jason Lee and Ben Affleck. Kevin still new to the film world took a lot of advice from film executives on the video, some that was poor, including cutting a scene where Gwenn got cum in her hair just like another famous movie... Despite this facts, this movie was hilarious with characters who followed in the footsteps of Dante and Randal. However it failed at the boxoffice, mainly because it was poorly marketed. It was not until its video release that the film found its audience. Chasing Amy
Kevin now had one movie which was a success, and another that was bashed, he had seen the best of both worlds. With more experiece than ever before he started his next movie which would show his true skills as a writer and be his first romantic comedy. When asked by Miramax who Kevin wanted to put in the film, he told them Ben Affleck and Jason Lee and that he had written it for them. Miramax rejected the idea saying to him, "Kevin it's not about doing movies with your friends." They didn't give him much money, instead of millions they gave him a mere $250,000. This film despite its low budget was a great success and put him once again on the top. But was this the end of Jay and Silent Bob as Kevin had planned? Dogma
Considered by many to be his funniest and most-thought out film, Dogma broke new ground for Smith. Having a crisis of faith, Smith made this film to help him deal with it. At the end of his film his crisis was over and he knew where he stood with his beliefs as far as going with or against his own church's teachings (Smith is a Catholic). Smith received $10,000,000 to make the film and with it he brought back the both famous and infamous Jay and Silent Bob who he claimed previously would make their last appearance in Chasing Amy. Smith also brought back some old faces along with a few new ones. So with an all-star cast that included Ben Affleck, Matt Damon (Ben and Matt have now established themselves as great actors as Good Will Hunting has become a boxoffice smash, it was through Kevin's help that it was made), Jason Lee, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Linda Florentino, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, and himself, he had established the makings for another great success. The movie did very well at the the boxoffices despite the four eighty-three year old women who never even bothered to see the movie (don't even get me started on these idiot gays) protesting in front a couple theaters (Kevin actually went to protest with his friends as a joke). And that Disney dropped the movie because of the bad publicity it was giving them and a smaller company had to put the movie out. So with the completion of his fourth film, Kevin looked forward thinking of his next project.
Clerks II ?
Kevin decided Jay and Silent Bob were becoming overused and he wanted to give a final hurrah for them and made a fifth Jay and Bob movie exclusively for his fans. Originally he planned this to be Clerks II but shit happens and the movie transformed itself into Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Given $20,000,000 to make the film, Kevin brought back many of the most important characters in the askewniverse including Dante and Randal, Brodie, Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards (along with their comic book "Bluntman and Chronic"), Alyssa Jones, Tricia Jones, Steve-Dave and Walt the fan boy, and of course Jay and Silent Bob. Along with having almost everyone to ever be in a view askew movie return to make a cameo. The movie didn't do as well as was expected and didn't receive great reviews, but this is beyond the point. Most people did as the critics told them and looked at the movie as it was. Not seeing what Kevin was actually doing. This was a thank you to view askewers like yourselves, thanks for watching his movies and supporting him, he wanted to give closure to the askewniverse, and let you know what happens to Jay and Silent Bob. |
