Happy 50th Birthday, Kevin Smith! Born today in 1970 as Kevin Patrick Smith, this American public speaker, podcaster, comic book screenwriter, author, comedian, actor and filmmaker was one of the most unique voices to emerge during the American independent filmmaking renaissance of the 1990s.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Smith's days as a child were scheduled around his father's late shifts at the post office.
His father eventually grew to despise his job, which greatly influenced Smith, who remembers his father finding it difficult on some days to get up and go to work. Smith vowed never to work at something that he did not enjoy.
Smith later attended Henry Hudson Regional High School, where as a B and C student, he would videotape school basketball games and produce sketch comedy skits in the style of the American late-night television variety show "Saturday Night Live".
As an overweight teenager, Smith developed into a comedic observer of life in order to successfully socialize with friends as well as girls.
After high school, Smith attended The New School in New York, but did not graduate.
He later met American television and film actor, film producer and internet radio show host Jason Mewes when working at a youth center when they found friendship with each other based on their mutual interest in comic books.
On his twenty-first birthday, Smith went to see Richard Linklater's 1991 American independent comedy-drama film 'Slacker'.
Smith, impressed by the fact that Linklater set and shot the film in his hometown of Austin, Texas rather than on a sound stage in a major city, was inspired to become a filmmaker, and to set films where he lived.
Smith relates: "It was the movie that got me off my ass; it was the movie that lit a fire under me, the movie that made me think, "Hey, I could be a filmmaker." And I had never seen a movie like that before ever in my life."
After that, he built himself a library of independent filmmakers.
These included Linklater, Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee and Hal Hartley to draw from.
Smith later attended Vancouver Film School for four months, where he met longtime collaborators.
These were Canadian-American film director, film producer, editor, podcaster, writer and actor Scott Mosier and American cinematographer Dave Klein.
However, Smith but left halfway through the course in order to save money to make his first film.
Smith later moved home to New Jersey and got his old job back at a convenience store in Leonardo, and decided to set his debut feature at the store, borrowing the life-in-a-day structure from the Lee's 1989 American drama/comedy-drama film 'Do the Right Thing'.
To finance the film, Smith maxed out more than a dozen credit cards and sold his much-treasured comic book collection, raising the $27,575 needed to make the film. Afterwards, he cast friends and acquaintances in the film's major parts.
The film later turned out to be the one of which Smith is best known for co-editing, writing, co-producing and directing and co-starring as Silent Bob.
This was the 1994 American independent black-and-white buddy comedy film 'Clerks'. Over time, the film had a profound effect on the independent film community.
The film was screened at the 16th Sundance Film Festival later that same year, where it won the Filmmaker's Trophy.
At a restaurant following the screening, then-American film producer and Miramax executive Harvey Weinstein invited Smith to join him at his table, where he offered to buy the film.
In May of that same year, 'Clerks' went to the 47th Cannes International Film Festival, where it won both the Prix de la Jeunesse and the International Critics' Week Prize.
Released on October 19, 1994 in two cities, the film went on to play in fifty markets, never playing on more than fifty screens at any given time. Despite the limited release, it was a critical and financial success, earning $3.2 million.
Initially, the film received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, solely for the sexually graphic language. Later, Miramax hired American lawyer and academic Alan Dershowitz to bring a lawsuit against the MPAA.
At an appeals screening, a jury consisting of members of the National Association of Theater Owners reversed the MPAA's decision, and the film was given an R rating instead.
According to American independent filmmaker, producer and author John Pierson, 'Clerks' is considered one of the two most influential film debuts in the 1990s, along with the 1995 American comedy-drama film 'The Brothers McMullen'.
In the mid-2000s, Smith reprised his role as Silent Bob in editing, writing and directing the 2006 American comedy-drama buddy film 'Clerks II'. Unlike the first film, which was shot in black and white, 'Clerks II' was shot in color.
Smith is also known for directing 'Mallrats (1995), 'Chasing Amy' (1997), 'Dogma (1999), 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), 'Jersey Girl' 2004), 'Zach and Miri Make a Porno' (2008) and 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' (2019).
Smith is also known for writing and directing a series of horror comedy films called The True North Trilogy.
Set in the View Askewniverse, it consists of the films 'Tusk' (2014), 'Yoga Hosers' (2016), and the planned 'Moose Jaws'. While 'Tusk' was a modest financial success, 'Yoga Hosers' was a critical and financial failure.
On February 9, 2017, Smith revealed on Facebook that although a script had been completed, 'Clerks III' had been cancelled as "one of the four leads opted out of the flick."
In 2019, 'Clerks' was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Smith has been active from 1992–present.
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