Date of Birth : Aug 2nd 1970
Despite having entered into the indie film community only a few years ago, Kevin Smith has seen it all — from the surprise critical and commercial success he received for his debut film Clerks, to the disappointing critical and commercial drubbing he took on his second outing, Mallrats. He caught a break on his third film, the critically hailed Chasing Amy, managed not to get killed by religious zealots over his fourth film, the comedic meditation Dogma, and made a very profitable ninety-five minute in-joke with Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. The joke, however, was on him once Jersey Girl hit screens. Mercifully, there was the made-classy-with-Roman-Numerals Clerks II to the rescue, the film that offered a second visit with both the characters (Dante and Randal) and the accolades (an eight-minute standing ovation in Cannes and the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival) that launched his career.
Along the way, Smith has also found time to make himself a nuisance by smearing his name all over John Pierson’s indie-film bible, Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes. He’s published the screenplays to six of his films, written comic books featuring not only his own characters (the multiple-printed Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob), but also legendary mainstays of the superhero world (the award-winning Daredevil and Spider-Man and the Black Cat at Marvel Comics, and the award-winning Green Arrow at DC Comics), and written a monthly column for UK based Arena Magazine — the lion’s share of which were reprinted in the bestselling book Silent Bob Speaks. With his View Askew partner, Scott Mosier, he’s also executive-produced four low-budget, first-film efforts (including Bryan Johnson’s Lions Gate release Vulgar), one large-budget, multiple Academy Award winner (Good Will Hunting), and a pair of Sundance-selected documentaries (Reel Paradise and Small Town Gay Bar).