“That’s beautiful man!” If you’ve seen Clerks you’ve seen him. You may not know him by name, but he’s Kevin Smith’s right hand man, Scott Mosier, producer of Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and the eagerly anticipated Dogma. The fans were crazy and plenty for View Askew at San Diego, buzzing for the 11:30am Q & A panel where Scott and Kevin with cohorts will appease the fanboys abroad and show a short 10 minute clip from Dogma.
It was first thing in the morning and Scott requested a tall cup of Joe, lots of sugar, lots of cream. I figured for all the laughs his films has given me, that a two dollar coffee was a bargain. Scott was hesitant when questions came up about Dogma, all is hush-hush for the October 99 release of what will be the most spectacular of the New Jersey films. Dogma is star-studded with the most recognizable cast yet including Chris Rock, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, Alanis Morrisette, Alan Rickman, and will feature Linda Fiorentino. A major cog in the View Askew machine Mosier sat with me by the harbor to talk about the films, the comics, and what it’s like to be involved with the hippest independent film group today.
Ernie Estrella: I just want to say congrats on your films! You guys have put out a great product that looks like it will stand the test of time; it’s quality work. What do you think of all the frenzy and fans?
Scott Mosier: Thank you, it’s great to come to San Diego, you get such a direct line with the people that seem to be happy. You can sit down and talk to your audience and they can ask you questions. Most the time you don’t think about it, while we’re at home working. You’re so isolated most of the time that you don’t even think of it, but coming here is nice, it’s always surprising again. Even though I know it’s out there. But you forget.
EE: Mallrats is personally one of my favorite films. Even though it wasn’t a hit with the critics. What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the movie? I know that you guys are still really proud of the movie.
SM: Yeah, I think the strengths of the movie are… I still think that it’s very funny. In the end whenever you make a movie, the idea is to have an idea or vision or something that you want to create and then you try to execute that. Our idea was to make an homage to Animal House, Blues Brothers, Fast Times (at Ridgemont High), not like they’re all alike, but sort of the tone, the feeling that you got from them. You get this raucous, no-holds barred, no-apologies sort of comedy. A Rated-R teen comedy and I thought we achieved that. I thought we made exactly that. That’s the exact movie we made, but I think that the critics thought that doing homage to those movies was an embarrassment to them.
EE: I don’t even think that the theatres gave it enough chance, to make the word go around.
SM: Well the theatres are like this, we had a real commercial release. And the theatres are like. “Is anyone at my theatres? No?! Fuck it!” There’s something else coming out next week that they rather take a chance on that than leave us in there for another week.
EE: That’s too bad. Now you make cameos in each of the films, can you list all of your characters that you played because you were disguised, and choose your favorite one?
SM: I played Snowball (also known as Willam Black) and the Angry Hockey-Playing Customer in Clerks. I played Roddy in Mallrats, and the Collector/Tracer Antagonist in Chasing Amy.
EE: Will you show up in Dogma as well?
SM: Yup, I will show up again. The Chasing Amy cameo was a lot of fun. It’s probably the one that I had the most to do in. In a way it sort of mirrors my role in Clerks though. I’m this person who sort of just comes up and starts to taunt the main character and get into a fight. I had a lot of fun doing that and I had a lot of fun working with Jason (Lee).
EE: Working on both sides of the camera, what do you like better?
SM: I would never pursue acting as a career, because I immediately become bored with it. I’m much more fascinated with what goes on behind it. And I’m not the type of person who draws attention to himself as little as possible. I don’t like surprise birthday parties. When I do the cameos… I think it’s fun, it’s okay, whatever….
EE: You’ve got to memorize lines…
SM: Right, exactly. I mean I do, but I’m usually doing it that morning because I don’t have any time. To do that everyday is something I would be uncomfortable with and it doesn’t really catch my focus.
EE: What are all of your duties as co-producer of the films, and have you had any formal training?
SM: I’ll start off by saying I had no formal training. I mean I had as much formal training as I did by going to film school, where I learned how to do all the different jobs to a certain degree. I focused on editing. Some other stuff, sound recording.
EE: Is that where you met Kevin?
SM: Yeah that’s where we met back in… 1992, in Vancouver. That’s where we met and I learned how to do the technical positions. But the job changes from movie to movie. Your duty is to solve problems potentially. You’re there to manage the giant machine, which is making the film, to deal with the agents, the lawyers, to make sure that everyone is happy, get rid of scheduling problems. If there’s no problems, then I have nothing to do. I mean I have done my job. I try to sit back and help wherever I can.
EE: Did you do that as well in Good Will Hunting?
SM: Good Will Hunting, Kevin and I sort of came in when the script came to Castle Rock Entertainment. Then it went into what’s called turn-around. The company that owns it says you have 30 days to try and sell it to someone else, if you don’t we will get it back and you guys have nothing to do with it, it’s ours. So we got it and within 30 days we got it in Miramax and got it set up there. Everything was coming together and we were about to do Chasing Amy at the time and that was it. They hired Gus (Van Sant, fellow Co-Producer of Good Will Hunting) and that was it. We were way, way in the background. We played a crucial role in getting that movie through at Miramax. But once they hired Gus, what do you do?
EE: Yeah well whenever I was reading an article on GWH, everything would be Ben, Matt, and Gus and you guys got sort of lost in the shuffle.
As Scott is about to answer, Scott pats his chest pulls out a cigarette from his flannel and scourges for a lighter. Three bystanders walk by and Mosier politely asks them for a lighter and within seconds, takes a few puffs back and clears his mind. He exhales, squints, and is ready to let loose.
SM: Like I said, we played a crucial role in the beginning but in the end I was just happy to see it happen. In the end too they could mention us but it might not make it into the article. When that movie came out, the most interesting aspect of the world were these two great-looking guys, who grew up together, how they wrote the script, and that was basically it. Now when we did Clerks, it was the opposite, the actors didn’t get that much press. I mean Kevin and I got a lot of press, the idea of how we made the film, these two Jersey guys, I’m not from New Jersey by the way. [laugh] The press will pick out what they want their readers to see.
EE: What’s your most favorite and least favorite part of making a film?
SM: I like editing a lot. I think the editing process is the best part and fun for me. I hate shooting. I just don’t like it, I hate it! I don’t do the camera work, usually I’m seated around Kevin, and I have my office on the set and I have to deal with all of the…
EE: Complications?
SM: As we get bigger, what I deal with is the politics, I fight with the studios, I protect everybody, you know I’ve got to talk to my production staff, take money from here and put it in here. How are we going to pay for this, how are we going to pay for that? Insurance claims if someone gets hurt. And in the middle of the day we’re behind, What are we going to do? We’ll all sit around and figure what shots we can do.
EE: It’s almost like building a house it sounds to me.
SM: Yeah, it’s sort of like to me to go out and buy the materials for the house it’s not as much fun as building it. And to me shooting is buying, you’re sort of gathering materials in what will ultimately become the movie. But it’s really stressful; you work 16-17 hour days, in however many months. You don’t sleep or rest; I could eat as much as I want and still lose weight. The stress eats it all the way. See, I’m not a big fan of shooting. I don’t mind it as much as I used to but I definitely like editing. It’s very calm, and the pace slows down…
EE: Basically it’s you and Kevin right?
SM: All of the post-production actually. But I like to see it all together, the sound mix whatever and doing it at a pace that I can handle. I can have the weekends off.
EE: How does it feel when money doesn’t matter for the actors. When you get Ben (Affleck) and Matt (Damon) who both ask for approximately 6 million a film for Dogma alongside with Chris Rock and yet get away with a 6-8 million dollar budget?
SM: You can take Pulp Fiction and you can take some of the stuff that we’ve done. There’s guys out there that are doing stuff for scale with larger salaries and when that movie comes along when the content, the script, maybe the filmmakers are not that experienced. You don’t get that kind of money you necessarily need to pay the kind of salaries that some of the actors want. It’s my understanding that an actor will take lots of money for a role if offered and the film is backed with a lot of money, and then on another project might take less. So when the actor loves the project, if they love the part, then they take less money. They’ll make their money elsewhere after a movie is a success. Then they really get to bust some chops for a part. With our films, and it won’t go on forever, as we become more successful the more difficult it will be to keep asking people to do it (taking less salary offers.) and it’s not necessarily right to keep asking people to do it. It all depends on the film. The next script Kevin writes could be ultra-controversial, really small, and intimate and the amount of money that someone want to put into it isn’t going to cover someone’s asking price and that’s when you throw it out to the actor if they really want to play that part. For 5 million dollars, they’re working for 6 months. We’re willing to take actors who want to act! A lot of times you don’t get a chance to make these big, huge blockbuster hits. Some of these smaller films get to display their talents.
EE: As you guys get bigger, will View Askew Films keep in the independent fashion or are you guys spending more money and cutting less corners?
SM: We’re always trying to do more for less. We certainly don’t have to do the same things we did in Clerks as we did in Dogma. Whatever the movie is, it should look three times as much as what we put into it.
EE: As your budgets gets bigger, and reputation gets bigger, do you find yourself wanting the big names still? Or do you still enjoy finding raw talent like Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, and Dwight Ewell.
SM: Yeah, we probably do a little less than we’ve done in the past. We’re fortunate that some of the people we started to work with, some of these independent guys like Jason (Lee) and Ethan are certainly much bigger than when we first started working with them. The attraction is to work with your friends and to continue to work with your friends, together as everyone grows and succeeds a great deal. It’s very attractive to say, “Do we do another film with Ben? Sure! It’s always fun to do a film with him.” I’m sure there’ll be times where we have to go back. We watch some of the independent films made by people we know and we’ve taken people from those movies and put them into our films. We’re definitely looking but it’s a lot harder though. In the end, when you want more money you’ve got to get big name actors to get supported. There’ll be a time when we want a film with fresh new faces so it’s not ruled out that we’ll use more unknown talent.
EE: I admire the fact that you guys stick to your guns and set the budget and rarely over budget a film.
SM: Also everyone begins to understand that we don’t have a lot of money and we don’t need to put in as much money as possible. You guys are going to come in and great performances, we have to have enough money to raise everything up to your level to what your doing so that the set looks good, the effects look good.
EE: In your films it appears a universal thought is conveyed that “money is important, we just want to be a part of this thing.” Will you guys be doing any television shows, perhaps a Clerks series on the Independent Channel, or are you guys strictly just making films.
SM: People bring it up, just something that we’d like to get into much like the comics. We’ve always loved comic books, something that we all wanted to do but it’s all a matter of waiting for the right time and moment. You need to get in with as much creative control as possible. Sometimes that means waiting to get yourself in that position of power to dictate and control the project, as opposed to getting it out early when you don’t have the ability to participate as much because you don’t carry enough weight.
EE: How is the Cannes Film Festival for those of us who can’t get out there? And are that many breasts in Canne?
SM: There are more than you’ll ever imagine. It is just a flesh-fest, it’s a circus of nudity is the best way to sum it up.
EE: Has movie making helped you get laid?
SM: No, not at all.
EE: Dante’s death scene was cut out of the original film, does that open the possibility of a sequel and if there is one, will it be in black and white?
SM: That’s a sensitive subject. There’s a lot of things that we’ve got going and lot of people bring it up. We have to sit around and say is this is the right thing we should do. It’s not ruled out, possibly it may happen but right now…
EE: It’s a lot of speculation.
SM: Yeah.
EE: What is the Vulgarthon? And will there be a Vulgarthon II?
SM: The Vulgarthon was a festival of every movie that we’ve done. It happened earlier this year in January in Red Bank New Jersey. It showed Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Drawing Flies and A Better Place. The latter two were movies that we executive produced. It’s sort of a way to get the hardcore fans together and watch the movies on projector, which you can’t do anymore. Meet the film actors and filmmakers. There are different levels of fans and this was our way to say thank you to them. Will there be a Vulgarthon II? That’s tough, I think the question will be is there anything new to show? When we get something new, we’ll probably do it again.
EE: Where did you guys find Jason Lee?
SM: When we did Mallrats, there was a casting call for every kid 24 and under. We saw thousands of people and Jason came as a favor to our casting agent. He was a professional skateboarder and he came in and we weren’t really blown away but he was funny and he made us laugh. We kept bringing him back because we liked to hang out with him and talk with him. Over the course of 4-5 weeks he kept coming back and back, by the end he sort of grows on you and it was the obvious choice. He came in one day and said that he woke up in his sleep and realized that he was Brodie (The lead character in Mallrats.) The moment he said that, we felt it too.
EE: The guy can deliver a line like no one else, he’s definitely my favorite actor out of all of your films.
SM: The guy is just amazing. I love to watch Jason work.
EE: Will we ever see Olaf the Berzerker (of Clerks fame) again?
SM: I don’t know, you see characters like Olaf belong in the comic books. That’s what the comic books are great for. It allows for the smaller characters have stories that be told. In the other films, the smaller characters just don’t fit in. The comics were an idea to go through the universe and instead of making him pop up, you can write a story about Olaf on how he escaped Russia.
EE: Have you ever given someone the Stinkhand? (The vile gesture that Jason Lee’s character Brodie gives to Mr. Svenning in Mallrats.)
SM: No, no never…. [Laugh]
EE: How big of a comic book fan are you?
SM: Yeah, I was a huge fan as a kid, and like a lot of people when I got to be 18 and went to college I didn’t have the funds, dropped out for a while. I really didn’t collect when the huge boom in the early 90’s. I was just really into movies at that time, and I was going to school and I just really didn’t have a lot of disposable income. It wasn’t until the movies picked up and I got some more. I’ve sort of cut down, not because they’re for kids but mostly because most of the stuff sucks. A lot of the stuff is just mundane, boring, and stupid. And I read a lot of superhero stuff, but it’s so rare that they’re written well.
EE: What do you read these days?
SM: I read the Invisibles, Preacher, Starman, Hate, and an occasional Batman. I get recommendations from Walter Flannagan and Byran Johnson who run our comic shop.
EE: What’s with the huge college following? Is it a generation thing, dialogue, or independent thing?
SM: I think it’s cause and also generation. As far as the people in college now, our age, or around our age, I think they find the films to be relevant to them. And it’s not relevant because the issues. It’s relevant because it’s…
EE: Life!
SM: I think that people can identify with them. A lot of movies that are supposedly made for people our age like Reality Bites are so insulting because you feel like someone is trying to guess what you’re thinking and “Here, identify with this.” I think that Kevin writes in a way that like “This is about me, and if you identify with it, fine. I’m not telling you to identify with shit.” And that’s why it’s more inviting because I’m watching someone else’s life and I see something of myself in that. But he’s not asking you to. He’s not trying to trick you or play to your wants and needs or pop culture. If he satisfies himself, and if he satisfies others fine. I think that’s why people are so attached to the movies. He speaks to them without speaking at them.
EE: Yeah, when I saw Reality Bites, I was like, this doesn’t represent me. First of all why make a pre-judgement like that and two I didn’t think it really represented us that much.
SM: It was like someone took a poll and asked, “What are you worried about?” Aids, relationships, abortions, pregnancy, getting a job, and then they wrote a script based on percentages… It was just a list of s— that goes on, but was handled in such a sterile way.
EE: Ever been snowballed ? (another reference to his character Willam Black in Clerks)
SM: I’ll never live it down. [shaking head laughing] When I looked at the script, I was like “What the f— is this?”
EE: What are your favorite movies and why?
SM: It’s hard to say, I have 400 movies on laserdisc. What makes me gravitate towards something over another is hard to say. Being There with Peter Sellers was a great one, I love the Right Stuff. If you caught me six months ago, I’d be saying Fargo, Barton Fink, JFK. There’s nothing that leaps out at me as the greatest movie ever made. I think that’s such a difficult question.
EE: What were you doing job wise before the movies.
SM: I worked as a stock boy at the Gap for five years all the way through college because I kept moving around so they just transferred me store to store as I moved. I worked in the back room, I wasn’t a salesperson, it was easy, and paid well. I had a radio and I didn’t have to talk to anyone and I got to travel a lot.
EE: That about wraps this up, I just wanted to say thanks for your time, and patience. It’s an honor and I amongst plenty love your films.
SM: It’s a pleasure, and thanks for the coffee!
He thanks me for warming him up for the Q & A panel which is packed with hundreds of fans. He camouflages himself letting Kevin take all the questions, laughing with all the rest of us.