Kevin Smith: The Rocky Road of the Director of Clerks

Kevin Smith was 24 when he made his debut as the director and supporting cast member in the cult comedy/independent film classic Clerks. However, he had already seen the kind of failure that would mark his follow up attempts.

Before making Clerks, Kevin Smith tried to make it at two separate colleges. First, he attended the New School for Social Research as a creative writing student but was kindly asked to leave after he was caught propelling water balloons out of his dorm window.

Later, he tried his hand at the Vancouver Film School, and although he was not invited to an early exit at this school, he took it himself after only four months.

Kevin Smith, however, did not want to give up entirely.

Gather 27,000 dollars-by maxing out his credit cards and selling his comic book collection-Smith raised enough money to shoot the indie classic Clerks. Completing production in a little over three weeks of filming at his place of employment-a convenience store in New Jersey-Smith put together his most highly acclaimed movie to date.

In the 11 years since Clerks' debut, Smith has produced such amazing flops as Mallrats (for making which Smith publicly apologized), Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the atrocious Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Although Chasing Amy and Dogma stare some of Hollywood's most beloved actors-Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Salma Hayek-and are even watchable, the most that can be said for them is that they are better than Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which isn't saying much.

In 2004, however, Smith began to turn his career around with the sweet, though somewhat too Ben Afflecky, Jersey Girl, which is about a widow (Affleck) who is trying to find a way to move on with his love life while not alienating his daughter.

It will take moviegoers a while to forget about the crude Jay and Silent Strike Back, but Smith promises to return to the fertile ground that first won him praise now over a decade ago. Production and release of The Passion of the Clerks, a sequel to 1994's Clerks, are slated for 2005. Will this be another Mallrats or will it be the best thing to hit indie film since, well, Clerks? Let's cross our fingers and hope that Smith doesn't have any more apologies to make.