It’s Friday night at 6. After a long week of waking up early to sell the tour on radio stations across the country, I’m plenty centered & ready to take stock of thoughts & feelings of a whirlwind week. But first? Huge thanks go out to @ColeAbaius over at the @rejectnation site. We Skyped what was, for me, a pretty cathartic conversation about me & the press, with Cole standing in for bloggers everywhere. It was a really great, honest talk that you can hear on the @rejectnation RejectRadio podcast soon. It was pretty healing for me if that makes any sense. And speaking of press, I sat down with Kim Masterson today for the @kcrw The Business. Kim wrote what Jen described as a “fair & funny” piece about me & the flick over at @THR for which I can only find the photo gallery right now: http://bit.ly/gS3lYg .

Don’t forget, Kevin will be at each and every “Red State” screening — Tickets and links at the top of the page you’re reading, or http://coopersdell.com/ or http://www.newsaskew.com. The first big show at Radio City Music Hall, is just a month away — March 5th. That joint holds 6,000 people, so let’s just see how close to sold out we can get that sucker. Nab your tix today, and be a part of history as Kevin takes it to the people.

Why the tour, and why Radio City, you ask? The latest “Red Statement” from Kevin goes into some good detail on the reasons for this type of rollout. Here’s a peek:

“…For each venue, thereís a minimum number of seats to sell before weíre at break-even. As long as the minimums were reachable, the tour wouldnít cost us anything ñ which is always my first goal in business: to spend as little as possible while eking out a living. Beyond the minimum seat numbers per venue weíd have to sell to cover the costs of doing a show in that venue, we figured it was all gravy. Best case scenario: we sell out every show and walk with $1.5 million net that would go toward recouping our $4 million dollar budget. Worst case-scenario: half-empty-houses that cost us nothing but also earned the movie back nothing but potential word-of-mouth.

Not the ideal, but still better than the alternative: sitting on the film ítil October or simply festival-hopping. But more importantly: the folks who really wanna see it could see it soon, and see me in the process, too ñ and, God-willing, theyíd start talking it up to everyone they know. If theyíre talking it up in March and April (on Twitter, Facebook, real life, etc), theyíre getting our word out six months before weíre in theaters. And as a creature of the web, I know thatís worth way more than monetary profit now: thatís profit later ñ when we really need it, once the flick hits theaters October 19th. Long tail, son.

…

“…I donít know who suggested Radio City Music Hall, but when they did, I knew weíd never sell it out: itís a 6000 seater. But that didnít matter: it was the idea that two fucking movie dorks like me and Jon could actually rent Radio City Music Hall at all to show our weird little flick. The moment Jon compared it to Spicolli getting Van Halen to play his birthday party (as revealed at the end of Fast Times at Ridgemont High), I was in. So even though I sold out the 2600 seat Carnegie Hall the day of the show, even with Red State shot from the Sundance cannon, we knew weíd never sell 6000 seats in only a month, with no paid advertising.

The good news is all we have to sell is 1700 seats.

1700 seats is the break-even point: the amount of tickets we have to sell so our rental of Radio City that night is paid for. After that, every ticket sold is all gravy. Naturally, weíd love to sell the rest of the seats, but the pressureís off at 1700. The rest of the shows across the country are under half the size of Radio City, so our break-even numbers everywhere else are far lower; only the Radio City 1700 looms large in our minds. At 1700 seats sold, we un-cork champagne and un-clinch our assholes.

On Monday, Iíll tell you how far away or close we are.

Read it all at the official site. Be a part of the Jerry Maguire-like movement by attending the shows, always up to date at http://www.coopersdell.com.

Next week, we head to Berlin for a international buyers screening. Already got a sweet offer from strong UK distrib, so hoping the rest of the territories sell well. Once we know which distrib/country have them, we can start planning RedStateInternational tours: like a week across England. Or a RedProvinceTour in Canada – all well before 10/19 US release.

As has been written numerous times, RED STATE isn’t exactly a horror film, though Kevin Smith certainly thinks it is, having argued rather strongly that the ideas he plays around with in it are truly frightening. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that, structurally speaking, it simply isn’t one. What heís made is satire. Pure, straight from the bottle satire. Far too often people mistake parody for satire and they forget that films like this certainly qualify. RED STATE is Smith’s manifesto on what is wrong with this country, laying bare his fears of what religious and political extremism mean for the future of our society. It is not a nice film nor are its ideas very pretty, but it isn’t horror.

What it happens to be is good. Very good.

…

RED STATE neither looks nor feels like anything Smith has ever made before, which of course I mean in the best way possible. Everything about this technically is heads and shoulders above everything else he’s ever done. The cinematography truly captures the look and feel he’s aiming for; the acting is several notches above every performance he’s ever gotten out of an actor; and there isn’t a single moment of anything resembling Smith-speak in the entirety of the film. It is every bit a film separate from his filmography as MATCHPOINT was to Woody Allen’s. Were you to remove Smith’s name from the credits, no one would remotely fathom this was one of his films. It is a lightspeed jump as an artist that shows – despite his recent antics a new found maturity as a filmmaker, proving him to be somebody with something to say and the talent to say it without having to always be in frame when it is said.

Kevin Smith: Why He’s Going Rogue with Red State

Starting in March, writer/director/actor Kevin Smith will hit the road to screen his new film Red State for fans, in mid-sized venues like Radio City Music Hall and the Wiltern in Los Angeles. Prices for his Radio City show range from $54.50 to $124.50. Which makes one ask, A hundred bucks for a movie?

Actually, it’s more like a ticket for a glimpse at an entertaining guy in career transition. When Smith sold distribution rights for his first film, Clerks, at the Sundance Film Festival 17 years ago, it was a dream come true. This year he brought along Red State, a humor-filled horror flick featuring Melissa Leo as a religious fundamentalist with a bloodthirst for gays (hence the title’s jab at conservative states) and John Goodman as an ATF officer. Immediately after the screening Smith showily “bought” the distribution rights to the film for $20 before anyone else could bid, announcing in a profanity-laced screed that instead of releasing the film through a studio he’d tour with the movie and follow that with a wider but still independent Oct. 19 theatrical release.

The goal, Smith says, is to skip the massive marketing campaigns attached to most movie releases ó which he estimated would cost a minimum of $20 million for Red State, a movie that cost only $4 million to make ó and bring the film directly to his fan base instead. It was a radical, attention-getting move, seen by some as arrogant. But what did it mean? Was it a publicity stunt? Was he trying to change the way Hollywood does business? We wanted to know.

A Q&A with Kevin Smith includes a lot more As than Qs; the filmmaker is famously voluble. Some ground rules: If he agrees to give you 30 minutes, plan for an hour. Expect to laugh; the guy who directed Chasing Amy is funny, even if sometimes, he makes a comedy that isn’t (Cop Out.) Get ready to trim obscenities (this is the guy who directed Zach and Miri Make a Porno). And prepare for your close-up; Smith, who prefers social media to old media ó he has over 1.7 million followers on Twitter ó agreed to talk to Time on the condition that he would post a unedited recording of the interview on his website as well.

We barely got a word in edgewise for about 35 minutes, so full disclosure: In the interest of providing structure and shape, we reordered and inserted some “questions” we would have asked if the highly agreeable Smith hadn’t just told us everything.

Why no traditional distributor for Red State?

We’re in a global economy now that does not support the kind of movies I like making in terms of marketing them. It doesn’t make sense to try to sell what I do to an audience that doesn’t want to see it. And I have been doing this for 17 years; I know there is the audience that likes what I do and then there are cats that don’t even know who I am or are indifferent to what I do. Or don’t want to see it. It just feels like, why do we waste money going after the audience that has no interest whatsoever?

You’ve said that Clerks, which cost less than $28,000 to make, didn’t make a profit for seven years because of the marketing budget. People might have thought you were slamming Harvey Weinstein, who bought Clerks.

Oh God, no. We literally named our [production] company the Harvey Boys in honor of Harvey. No slam here, that’s just the realities and vagaries of our business… There is no bad guy here. It is just what the business has become.

So what’s with these expensive screenings of Red State?

It was like, we could let it sit on a shelf until October [he plans to release Red State in theaters as a Halloween movie] or take it with me when I go out on the road, and that’s the thing I guess I’m taking a lot of heat for. Most people kind of know me for one job ó for making the films ó but for anyone who is really into my stuff knows that for over 10 years now, between movies, I go out on the road and do Q&As and kind of put on shows.

According to Smith, ticket prices for Red State are the same as those shows. In 2010, without a movie to preview, he sold out six of the 11 venues he played ó including, to his great pride, Carnegie Hall. Smith says a completely sold out tour would net $1.5 million; he expects to make up the rest of the film’s production costs in foreign rights and video sales. He says his wife Jennifer, who has a small, gun-toting role in Red State, wouldn’t let him do any of this if it was a financial gamble.

To me the gamble [would be], we’ve spent $4 million to make the movie, let’s gamble another $20 million to make people want to see it. That’s madness, that’s arrogant… I’ve been called arrogant for what I’m doing. Isn’t it more arrogant to believe that my movie that we couldn’t get financed for three years ó nobody wanted to make it, I understand, it is bleak material, it is not for everybody ó I’m like, wouldn’t it be more arrogant for me to do this the traditional way, overspend to make people want to see it? This is the financially responsible model.

Smith also puts out a series of podcasts (available on smodcast.com) including one featuring his alter-ego Silent Bob and his friend Jay (Jason Mewes) that gets up to 300,000 downloads. Touring and talking keeps him busy, which is a good thing since he just announced he’ll quit directing movies after his 11th feature, Hit Somebody, his hockey movie in pre-production now. So we asked, “Really?”

I wasn’t born to be a filmmaker like Steven Spielberg, I was born to tell stories, and film was the first vehicle through which I could tell those stories. But it’s coming on 20 years since the moment I decided I wanted to be a filmmaker, and 20 years of doing anything ó it’s just like, I’ve done it, it’s been great, my dreams came true, well beyond what I ever would have expected… I always said I only have 10 scripts in me… When I wind up directing someone else’s script as I did with Cop Out, that to me is a clear indicator that, Okay I have done everything I ever wanted to do, and now I’m just doing s– to see what will happen.

Smith cites Henry Jaglom (Eating, Queen of the Lot), one of the first successful filmmakers to self-distribute his movies, as an example of how this model isn’t new; but, as TIME was unkind enough to point out, it is hard to find Jaglom’s films in theaters.

I believe in the Long Tail theory. I’m a creature of the Internet. The idea is, if I start marketing now, in this quiet kind of online way, amongst my fan base who then go out and talk to their friends, who talk to their friends, by the time October rolls around… all I will have to say is, Here it is, come see Red State… I salute f–ing Henry Jaglom. He has been making the exact movies he wants to make for years and years, putting them out his own way … Henry Jaglom is doing it people! He’s not sitting around talking about how people are trying and failing, he’s just putting his head up and stick down. He’s a model to a guy like me. The only difference is, I’m going to try to go wider. The good news is I have tons of support.

Definitely on Twitter. But what about inside Hollywood as well?

I didn’t make this move before I talked to all my industry friends… I am in Hollywood. Nobody is up in arms. I talked to them all.

So you’re not trying to start a revolution?

No. God, no. Look at my track record, I’m not a revolutionary. I’m not a rebel. I’m not political. I’m not the savior, man… I am not even trying to do it for all of indie cinema. I don’t picture myself as someone kind of quixotic figure. I just have built up enough of a reputation and an audience to try and experiment with it. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone try to talk me out of it… Because if for nothing else, I have done it nine times the other way and I know exactly what happens.

Many of us assume you Hollywood types have to keep making tons of money to support your fancy lifestyles. Don’t you?

Last year and the year before, I made more money standing on a stage talking as myself than I did as a director of film… For the last two years I haven’t been seeing the kind of big dollars I used to see when I had a overall deal with Miramax and the Weinstein company. I have had to support myself just going out on stage talking and I have been able to do that… Do I have enough f– you money, is that the question? No, I wish I did, but I would rather grind it out, try to make honest money with something I am passionate about.

Everything I see in my bankbook tells me [fans] like me best when I’m being me. And this is me being me… I’m 40. I am in mid-life, but it’s not a crisis. A crisis would be spending $20 million to market a movie. This is me, taking stock.

Via @gizmoghost “Ask & it shall be done: http://tinyurl.com/Jeffs-smod ” Join the campaign! Get Jeff to do a monthly Mountain Man podcast!

Because you demanded it! On @SModcastle sales page, a new counter, letting you know how many tickets are left: http://smodcastle.com/tickets

Check out the new front page at the SModcast home site, reflecting the forthcoming Tuesday premiere of PUCK NUTS! http://smodcast.com

I was flying last night, so I didn’t get to pimp a BRAND NEW #SMODCAST ! SModcast 135: Mos Chuisle. Mos on boxing. http://smodcast.com/main

Via @dysartes “Where can an interested party find out more regarding RED STATE?” Probably by being on set: http://viewaskew.com/redstate/

The script for “Red State” has had those who read it talking that it’s so dark and bleak, a total 180 from any of Kevin’s previous lighter works, that folks will be shocked. We can’t wait to see what he and the crew have in store for us. Stay tuned here at News Askew, as the cameras start to roll – We’ll keep you posted, and as spoiler-free as possible, of course.

THIS SATURDAY, at 1:00 PM ET, Kevin and Scott will debut a brand new, never-before heard episode. Then, enjoy a SModcast marathon starting on SUNDAY from 7:00 AM until midnight ET on the same channels. Yes, that’s 17 straight hours of uncut SModcast! New and classic episodes of SMod will air at 1:00 PM ET each week, with other broadcast times set to be announced.

Look! A press release:

Sirius XM (SIRI) Radio To Launch New Show Hosted By Director Kevin Smith

Director, actor, writer, and producer Kevin Smith is coming to Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI). The Satellite Radio provider announced today that they will bring Kevin Smith’s popular, weekly SModcast program to it’s subscribers. Smith will also be launching a brand-new and exclusive monthly edition, created with the help of his longtime producer and cohost Scott Mosier, beginning this Saturday, September 25th, 2010.

“I’m ecstatic to be a part of the SIRIUS XM family and hope folks find our SModcast program as funny as we do. I loved when The Virus promoted SModcast, back when we first launched the show because, every now and then, I’d be driving around listening to XM and catch SModcast on satellite radio.” – Kevin Smith

Smith broke the news this morning on Sirius XM’s Opie & Anthony program, where he has been a frequent guest. Opie & Anthony’s contract with Sirius XM expires in less than two weeks, with no word yet of any resolution.

According to Sirius XM, Kevin Smith’s weekly show will be “an uncensored, unscripted and unpredictable program on which he shares observations/musings on any topic on his mind: politics, sex, comic books, food, technology, religion, and beyond.”

“I have been a fan of Kevin Smith’s sharp wit, keen eye, creativity and independent spirit for many years. Sirius XM is thrilled to bring his unfiltered voice and perspective of the world to millions of listeners across the country.” – Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, Sirius XM Radio

Smith’s debut film Clerks was a cult favorite, bringing Smith critical acclaim and a cult following. Smiths other popular feature films include Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Mallrats, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Smith’s next project will be the “political horror film” Red State, slated for a 2011 release. Smith also recently published a comic book version of The Green Hornet.

Smith’s SModcast program launches on Sirius XM’s The Virus, XM channel 202 and Sirius channel 197 as part of the “Best of XM” package, this Saturday, September 25 at 1:00 pm ET, with an original, never before heard episode. SModcast will continue to air weekly during that timeslot. To celebrate the launch of Smith’s SModcast on Sirius XM, a SModcast marathon, featuring a replay of the new show as well as episodes from Smith’s SModcast archives, will air on Sunday, September 26th from 7:00 am – midnight ET.

That best of XM package just got even more worthwhile on our Sirius subscriptions — Welcome to the skies, guys. See you Saturday. Oh, one last thing — Worried about SMod going commercial? Via Kev:

Via @Jeregano “SModcast going to stay free to those of us that can’t afford to pay for radio?” #SModcast will always be free. ALWAYS.