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Kevin Smith THE ASK HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEW: PART 1 Hear a message from Kevin Smith! Kevin Smith is synonymous with Independent Film. His debut film Clerks reinvigorated the stagnant waters of American cinema and sparked a new generation of film makers. His somewhat offbeat comedies are infamous for their sharp, witty dialog that is weaved in such a way that the audience is left wanting more. This past year marked a period of great change for Kevin Smith, as he welcomed into his life his wife Jennifer and their first daughter Harley. His professional life blossomed this year as well as he was able to launch a successful merchandising venture based on his movies that culminated in the opening of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in his hometown of Red Bank, New Jersey. Finally, he branched out successfully into other mediums with the appearance of Jay and Silent Bob comic books and the landing of an animated series based on Clerks for ABC. Kevin continued his remarkable film career as well. His latest film, Dogma, sparked a religious controversy of sorts between Disney, the parent company of then distributor Miramax, and a radical, fundamental religious organization. The "controversy" helped to land the movie at Cannes, where it opened to overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim. Kevin sat down with us, and in true disregard to his alter-ego, Silent Bob, graciously offered his insight into such areas as the future of DVD, his love of comic books, his presence on the Internet, and to whether or not Ben Affleck is a good kisser. Pull up a chair and listen to one of Hollywood's brightest young minds as he contemplates on success and his role in the world. The Special Edition of Mallrats is now available on DVD. HEAR THE AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW! PART 1 (4:43) PART 2 (7:22) PART 3 (8:25) PART 4 (6:58) INTERVIEWER: First, I want to say congratulations, you've had an amazing year. You got married, the birth of your first daughter, you went to Cannes with Dogma, which is wrapped and ready to go. What's been the most amazing thing for you this year? KEVIN SMITH: I think, hands down, the birth of my daughter was pretty huge stuff. I don't know if you've ever seen a child be born, it's pretty weird and it's definitely one of those things you've got to see before you leave the planet. It's quite the experience. It was great, it was very moving and very powerful and very cool. Second to that would be the Mallrats DVD release, which is also very moving and powerful and cool. INTERVIEWER: You've definitely had quite the experience, do you think your life could get any better? KEVIN SMITH: Right, yeah. I don't see how, sometimes I kick around and just go "Wow, it's all down hill from here, isn't it?" I just keep waiting for the bottom to drop out. And, even if it did-when it does-I don't think I'll have much to complain about. I don't think I'll become bitter or one of these people who say "Oh man, I once had it all." I mean it was nice to have it for a while and kind of have people dig what I did. If I finally agree not to do it (make a movie) again, I think I'd be content because it was good while it lasted. INTERVIEWER: You've also enjoyed your fair share of celebrity over the last few years, what do you find the most interesting aspect of fame and celebrity? KEVIN SMITH: I think it's really weird that when you can finally afford to buy things, people give you things for free constantly. I remember that somebody sent me a Playstation and I showed my friend Walter. Walter was like "I don't get it. You could buy a Playstation, why did they give you one? You know, guys like me gotta buy it." I was like, "Yeah, that's a good question." When you accumulate enough cash to buy yourself a little extravagance here or there, people throw things at you anyway. INTERVIEWER: What a life! You mentioned the Mallrats DVD that comes out today and I know that you are a big fan of the laserdisc format, what do think of the DVD format? KEVIN SMITH: I'm kind of diggin it now. On the Chasing Amy laserdisc, the Criterion one we did, I think I opened with the comment, "F#*% DVD!" I've had to recant that, it's a pretty good format. I was really not looking forward to starting a whole new collection of something because I think I'd amassed about like 2,000 laserdiscs by the time that went the way of the dinosaur. Once I kind of got into DVD, once I started watching them, checking them out, it's a really great format. And you can do a lot more with it than you could ever do with laser(disc). Like just that multiple angle stuff we did with the DVD for Mallrats, just being able to watch the commentary, from time to time. INTERVIEWER: I've heard that the Mallrats DVD contains some revolutionary nuances that, in fact, at certain points during the audio commentary you can actually hit the alternate angle button and watch you guys sit around and comment on the movie. KEVIN SMITH: Exactly. You can watch us commenting on the movie. I think the alternate angle has only been used in porn, you know, so it was really good to actually...us and porn are the only two people that...man, what would you call us? INTERVIEWER: Pioneers? A tale of two Silent Bobs. Mallrats allowed Kevin Smith to exercise his creative muscles under the guise of a "Hollywood" movie. KEVIN SMITH: Yeah, two pioneers, us and porn. DVD pioneers. Using the format in a way not used yet. I think once people see what we were able to accomplish, or rather what the good folks at MCA were able to accomplish because Lord knows I didn't do much with the DVD, I think all DVDs should be as good as this. Whether you liked the movie or not, it's just a great use of the medium and it's just a packed disc. This is what a Special Edition should be. So often you buy a Special Edition and it's got maybe a trailer on it and it's letterboxed but this is just loaded and the price is really right. NEXT PART >>

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