Kevin Smith

From ArticleWorld

Kevin Smith was born August 2, 1970 and grew up in the Highlands, New Jersey. Most of his films are set in New Jersey. All of his movies (except Jersey Girl) feature the characters Jay and Silent Bob. Smith plays Silent Bob. In addition, his movies, with the exception of Jersey Girl, are set in the View Askewniverse.

Biography

Upon graduating high school, Smith enrolled in the New School for Social Research in New York. Before he finished his creative writing program, he dropped out and enrolled at Vancouver Film School. He became disheartened, dropped out and moved back to New Jersey and to his job at The Quick Stop, a local convenience store. This job inspired him to film the movie Clerks.

Films

To save money while filming Clerks, Smith employed his friends to appear in the film and filmed at night using the convenience store as the backdrop. In 1994, the movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and, though quiet in the beginning, through word of mouth, the film became a hit and was picked up by Miramax. The movie became a cult hit.

His second film, Mallrats, didn't do as well as Clerks. His third movie, and what would become the third of his Jersey Trilogy, was Chasing Amy about a straight man that falls for a lesbian. The movie garnered much attention and he was applauded for the film. His next film was controversial. Dogma was about angels who fell from grace and wanted revenge against God. In 2001, Smith releases Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In 2004, Jersey Girl starring Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck was released. It wasn't well received, mostly because of the media backlash surrounding Ben and Jen's off screen relationship.