Engaging, self-deprecating and brutally honest, Smith was candid about his career and his movies. Asked by an audience member if the upcoming “Clerks” sequel was an attempt to redeem himself after the disappointing “Jersey Girl,” Smith didn’t hesitate to respond.

“That movie was wrought with peril because two people were sleeping together on the movie” Smith told the crowd, a reference to the Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez media circus. “Especially in the wake of ‘Gigli,’ it was like ‘remember that movie that came out a few months ago with those two people you can’t stand? Here’s a little more.’”

Writer/Director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) unveils the prequel to his second film, Southland Tales, in a series of three graphic novels. The 2006 feature film, starring The Rock, Sean William Scott and Sarah Michelle Gellar, will consist of the final three chapters. Graphitti Designs and View Askew in conjunction with Darko Entertainment are proud to present the first monthly book in the three-issue series. Southland Tales Book I: Two Roads Diverge, written by Richard Kelly with art by Brett Weldele (Surrogates, Julius), sets the tone and portrays the day’s events prior to where the movie picks-up.

Degrassi Ready for the Big Screen?

THE DIRECTOR

Degrassi: The Next Generation is getting set to bust out of the TV, with a feature film and a series o! f graphic novels planned.

Epitome Pictures in Toronto, which produces the show, is hoping to start filming the movie this spring. But the final details, including whether Kevin Smith (Clerks) will direct the project, are still being ironed out.

“Is Kevin interested in directing? Yes,” says Stephanie Cohen, director of marketing at Epitome. Smith has already appeared as a guest star on the show several times and is a Degrassi fan. Word in the industry is that Nickelodeon Films, part of the Viacom conglomerate, which also includes Paramount Pictures, is interested in the project.

THE STORY

A final script isn’t ready, but we know that the movie movie will be shot in and around Toronto. The idea is to advance the plotline of the TV show, picking up from where it ends off this season, its fifth.

“There would be new characters. But it would be based on our Degrassi cast,” Cohen adds.

Epitome is planning a sixth season about the characters at Degrassi Community School, although the company is still waiting for the series to be officially renewed. The aim is to blend the plotlines of the film with those of season six.

“The writers on the feature film are very aware, working in tandem with the producers of the show, that there is no conflict [in the storylines],” Cohen says.

“If they take a character in a certain direction, it would be picked up in the following season — even though the release of the feature wouldn’t come until after the beginning of the next season. It’s complicated.”

THE BOOKS

Meanwhile, the first two in a series of at least four Degrassi graphic novels from Toronto’s Madison Press Books are planned to be released this spring. Written and drawn like Japanese manga-style comic books, they will contain around 100 pages each. Simon & Schuster is releasing the titles in the United States. The comics would spin off from the series and go into even further detail about the characters’ lives.

“So, it’s what we can’t do on the show, they can do in these books,” says Cohen.

Q: Was there a moment when acting clicked in for you?

A: That really happened with “Chasing Amy,” because there was one very important moment for me where we were shooting a sequence where I see Ben Affleck’s character for the first time in a long time. Kevin Smith pulled me aside and said something to me he hadn’t said before, which was to really think about what you are doing. That was sort of a new concept for me — instead of just reading the lines and trying to be funny, to actually think about what’s going on. It was from “Chasing Amy” that I got “Almost Famous.” It all came from “Chasing Amy.”