Kevin Smith

Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) 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.

Since 2011, Smith has mostly made horror films, including ''Red State'' (2011) and the comedy horror films ''Tusk'' (2014) and ''Yoga Hosers'' (2016), two in a planned series of three such films set in Canada dubbed the ''True North'' trilogy. He has served as a director-for-hire for material he did not write, including the buddy cop action comedy ''Cop Out'' (2010) and various television series episodes, creating ''Masters of the Universe: Revelation'' in 2021.

Smith owns Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey, a comic book store which became the setting for the reality television show ''Comic Book Men'' (2012–2018). He hosted the film review TV show ''Spoilers''. As a podcaster, Smith cohosts several shows on his SModcast Podcast Network, including ''SModcast'', ''Fatman Beyond'', and the live show ''Hollywood Babble-On''. He is known for participating in long, humorous Q&A sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with ''An Evening with Kevin Smith''. Provided by Wikipedia