Kevin Smith, aka, Silent Bob, was born August 2, 1970 in New Jersey. For those of you who don't know who Kevin Smith is, he is the writer, director, producer, and mastermind behind movies such as: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and the ever-popular Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It seems safe to say that Kevin Smith is a modern comedic and cinematic genius.
Smith knew that he wanted to be a filmmaker from a young age. Although he was extremely intelligent, Smith was not one to be held back by the chains of society. After high school, Smith attended the New School for Social Research and majored in creative writing, but unfortunately he was soon expelled for launching water balloons out of his dorm room window. After this incident, he decided to attend the Vancouver Film School. He felt that this school would not help his film career in the longrun, and left within four months.
At this point, Smith needed some time to collect his thoughts and plan his entrance into the big screen. He went back to New Jersey and worked at a convenience store as a clerk. During the early 90's, independent films began to experience a certain degree of success. Smith recognized this. He reconciled with former film-school peer Scott Mosier and formed a dynamic film production duo. .
Somehow the two managed to gather together 27,000 dollars to create their first movie, Clerks, a movie that Kevin Smith wrote, directed, acted in, and produced. Smith and his small crew immediately began filming Clerks, using the actual store that Smith worked at for the setting. Clerks was finished within 3 weeks, and entered into the 1994 Sundance Film Festival where it immediately became a hit. .
Clerks were a black-and-white movie that portrayed a day in the life of a depressed clerk named Dante Hicks that was called in on his only day off. Dante's best friend Randall was the rebellious clerk of the next-door video store, who loved nothing more than messing with the customers.
