Kevin Patrick Smith is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob, characters who also appeared in Smith's later films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Clerks III (2022) which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the "View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.
Jay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by American actors Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively. They appear in the View Askewniverse, a fictional universe used in most of the films, comics, and television programs written and produced by Smith.
Clerks is a 1994 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith in his feature directorial debut. Starring Smith along with Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Jason Mewes, and Scott Mosier, it presents a day in the lives of store clerks Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson) as well as their acquaintances. It is the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films, and introduces several recurring characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob.
Mallrats is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Priscilla Barnes and Michael Rooker. It is the second film in the View Askewniverse following 1994's Clerks.
Jason Edward Mewes is an American actor, comedian, film producer, and podcaster. He is best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse franchise.
Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written, co-edited and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler with George Carlin, Stephen Root, Mike Starr, Raquel Castro, Jason Biggs and Jennifer Lopez in supporting roles. The film follows a widowed man who must learn how to properly take care of his precocious daughter after her mother dies during childbirth.
View Askew Productions is an American film and television production company founded by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier in 1994. Actors Ben Affleck, Jeff Anderson, Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Walter Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran and Ethan Suplee are people that frequently appear in projects under the View Askew banner.
Scott A. Mosier is an American film producer, director and editor best known for his work with director Kevin Smith, with whom he occasionally co-hosts the weekly podcast, SModcast.
Clerks II is a 2006 American black comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, the sequel to his 1994 film Clerks, and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse. The film stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, Jason Mewes, and Smith, and picks up with the original characters from Clerks: Dante Hicks, Randal Graves and Jay and Silent Bob ten years after the events of the first film. Unlike the first film, which was shot in black and white, this film was shot mostly in color.
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash is a comic book store owned by filmmaker Kevin Smith, and named after the fictional duo portrayed by Smith and Jason Mewes in Smith's View Askewniverse films. Merchandise includes comic books, comic-related merchandise, and View Askew film-related items. The store is located at 65 Broad Street in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The View Askewniverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Kevin Smith, featured in several films, comics and a television series; it is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media, and characters from one story often reappear or are referred to in others. Smith often casts the same actors for multiple characters in the universe, sometimes even in the same film; Smith himself portrays the character of Silent Bob.
Walter Flanagan is a former comic book store manager, reality television personality, podcaster, and comic book artist. Flanagan is a long-time friend of Kevin Smith, and it was Flanagan who turned Smith on to comic books. He formerly managed Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Jeffrey Allan Anderson is an American film and television actor, director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks,Clerks II, and Clerks III. In between, he has appeared in other Kevin Smith-directed films and has written, directed, and starred in Now You Know.
Bryan Lee Johnson is an American podcaster, actor, television personality, screenwriter and comic book writer associated with filmmaker Kevin Smith and the View Askewniverse. He is best known by his local fame in New Jersey and appearances in Smith's New Jersey films as comic book store owner Steve-Dave Pulasti. He was also the basis for the Clerks character Randal Graves.
A Better Place is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Vincent Pereira. It stars Robert DiPatri and Eion Bailey. It was produced in association with View Askew, Kevin Smith's production company, and released to DVD by Synapse Films. It was nominated for the Golden Starfish Award for Best American Independent Film at the 1997 Hamptons International Film Festival. In 2016, the film screened out of jury competition, in the director-curated block, but was chosen as the Audience Favorite Feature Film of the first annual Oil Valley Film Festival.
Brian Michael Lynch is an American film and comic book writer. Lynch was the initial writer and co-creator of Angel: After the Fall for IDW Publishing alongside Joss Whedon, and is best known for writing the screenplays for the films Puss in Boots (2011), Minions (2015), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019), and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). He has also written unproduced film adaptations of both The Sims and The Muppets.
Comic Book Men is an American reality television series which aired on the AMC network from 2012 to 2018. It is set at Kevin Smith's comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, New Jersey.
SModcast Pictures is an American film distribution company and a film and television production company founded by Kevin Smith in 2011. Kevin Smith announced at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival that he would release his latest movie Red State himself under his own distribution company SModcast Pictures by touring the film instead of having a traditional release.
Clerks III is a 2022 American black comedy-drama film written, directed, and edited by Kevin Smith and starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson and Smith. It serves as a sequel to the 1994 and 2006 Clerks films, and is the ninth overall feature film set in the View Askewniverse. In the film, Randal Graves, after surviving a massive heart attack, enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante Hicks, Elias Grover, and Jay and Silent Bob to make a movie about their lives at the Quick Stop Convenience store that started it all.
