CS: Is your character in the Kevin Smith movie better at making a porno than he is in “Knocked Up” making a porn site?


Rogen: Yes! I think he is. It’s way easier to make a porno than a porn web page. I’ll tell you that. Me and you could make a porno in 10 minutes on my iPhone. A web page would probably take one of you guys 10 minutes, for me it would take a while.


CS: Kevin Smith has a very different aesthetic from the Judd Apatow movies, so what was your experience like on that film?


Rogen: He let us improvise to the best that his shooting style will allow. He shoots very specifically because he edits the movies also. Shot for shot, the whole is planned out in his head beforehand so to some degree that limits the amount of improv you have can. You see how we shoot here. They put the cameras on us and we go. With Kevin, it’s much more specifically shot. It’s like, “Well this shot is only good for three words so you can improvise all you want, but only three words are going to be in this shot.” I was proud of him. He let us do a lot of stuff that I never thought he’d let people do. I’ve seen the movie and there is a lot of the improv that we’ve done in the movie and I think it feels maybe more naturalistic than maybe some of his other movies do. That being said, it’s not quite the same universe as what we do here.

Extra improv, eh? We’re intrigued. This one will surely make for an interesting commentary track on the eventual DVD release — Smith, Rogen & Co. on the same track? Damn, now we’re already looking forward to the DVD!

The MPAA called and said we had to take it down.

Here’s why: Weinstein Co. (like most studios) is a signatory of the MPAA. As such, there are protocols involving trailers that we failed to follow.

As with features, all trailers get rated get rated by the MPAA. The majority of them are for general audiences (Green Band trailers), but trailers packed with adult content (like our teaser) earns you what’s called a Red Band trailer.

Well, we didn’t go through this process – simply because, we felt, that since the teaser didn’t contain any footage from the actual flick, it wasn’t technically a trailer.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out all promotional material for any film financed/distributed by a signatory of the MPAA has to be signed-off on by the MPAA – including internet-only materials. I never realized this, as it’d never been a problem in the past: we’ve been doing ‘net-only teasers since “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and nobody ever raised a red flag before (not even on the last flick, for which we also put up two ‘net-only teasers in advance of the rated trailer). But I guess since the teaser was so, shall we say, racy… a rating was in order.

We’re now officially submitting the teaser to the MPAA for rating. If they approve it, we’ll put it back up.

So there ya have it, folks — We’ll keep you posted on this unfortunate situation, but do thank Kevin for taking the time to explain what happened. We’re guessing this may have an impact on future web postings of promotional content for auteurs all over the US, so we hope they’re all taking note. Stay tuned.

We’re also quite impressed with the marketing approach so far. Just some little tastes here and there, very little given up by Kevin and the cast and crew — Heck, the least amount of spoilers we’ve seen revealed or pushed out there since we started the site (those couple test screening reviews aside, but we skipped ’em, hope you did, too). We’re looking forward to watching this one play out as Kevin, Scott, Harvey, and the gang want it to — And nope, we’ve yet to read a page of the script (except for the EW piece) or see a single frame of film. And unless we hit a test screening before then, we’ll be enjoying it for the first time with the rest of you on opening day. It’s great having this job, but it’s also continually fun being the fans, and enjoying the reveal of a View Askew flick the natural way.

Check out the new poll topic on the right naviation of News Askew — We’re wondering what the new teaser did for your anticipation. Fire away.

If you’d like to read the strip and don’t get ‘My Cage’ in your local paper, check it out online. Or, of course, read it in your local paper — If you don’t see it, and want to, call your local office and ask.

SModcast 52: The (c)Rapture –


In which our heroes celebrate a milestone, lament the loss of the ultimate weapon, pit the Christ against the AntiChrist, and plot the most amazing movie ever made.

And while we’re talking about SModcast, PopMatters.com blogger Bill Gibron had sopme nice things to say about the entire series at THIS LINK.

BRIAN [DANTE] O’HALLORAN TALKS KEVIN SMITH AND THE CLERKS ‘TOON


by John Delia

Actor Brian O’Halloran, best known to moviegoers for his character Dante Hicks in Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Clerks II, and the animated TV series with the same name appeared this past weekend at Super Con, a combination comic book and animation convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

O’Halloran first began working in film when he was cast in Kevin Smith’s debut film Clerks in 1994. The two became friends and O’Halloran subsequently appeared more of Smith’s films, includingMall Rats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, the Clerks animated series (2000-’01), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and of course most recently in a reprise of his Dante Hicks role in 2006’s Clerks II.

O’Halloran spent a few minutes chatting with Newsarama about being part of the Kevin Smith “ensemble”, the future of Dante Hicks, and his work outside the Kevin Smith school…

Newsarama: Brian, what is it like working with an icon in the genre community like Kevin Smith?

Brian O’Halloran: You now, working with Kevin Smith, he’s such a great writer and he is in tune with the Clerks type of comedy. He can think right off the top of his head. It is really awesome working with someone that has a likening for his comedic style.

NRAMA: Was Smith open to letting you develop your own character of Dante by the time you got to Clerk’s II?

BO’H: I think we all did by then. The first one was everybody’s first, so the first one was our first opportunity and chance to make a film. We were all newbies, as we would say, a bunch of newts making a film. And Clerks II was Kevin’s eight or ninth film at the time and it was a culmination of all he had learned in all those other films. In his growth and maturity as a person, as a father, and also just questioning where he was in his life now that he was in his 30’s.

I think it is one of his best and I can’t wait to see more of it. So, yes we personally able to do more with our characters.

NRAMA: On that note, do you think there is going to be a return by Smith to the franchise beyond Clerks II?

BO’H: I don’t doubt that there might be a return to the Clerks franchise, and in one of the ways there might be an animated version beyond the ‘toon one that we did for TV. We did the Clerks cartoon years ago and it’s an effective format that we totally enjoy using. So if we don’t do the live version of it, most likely it will be the animated version.

NRAMA: Recall for fans the events that led up to the TV animated series?

BO’H: The Clerks’ toon, the animated series was so great and was so much fun. Kevin was living out in LA and he had Dave Mandel who was one of the producers of Seinfeld come on board. It was to be episodic work. And these four characters Jay, Bob, Dante, and Randal were so great to write about because they could say and do anything. Animation was a way to bring these characters into an outlandish world, situations, and scenarios that only an animated format would allow.

So first they shopped the idea around to people, and UPN was interested immediately and wanted a full season. But the higher ups at Disney (they had distributed the original Clerks under their Miramax label) had found out about the idea and they counter offered, and said ‘look we will do 6 episodes, but on a bigger network.’ With all the coaxing and they gave us a Superbowl ad and everything, they went with that (Miramax Television).

NRAMA: So what’s it like doing a voice characterization for animation and how much different is it from live action?

BO’H: It was a great experience because #1 you go into a studio with a bunch of friends and you start running dialogue left and right. I got to work with some really great people like Michael McKean (as the Creepy Old Guy) and Alec Baldwin playing Leonardo, Leonardo. I mean some really great actors came in to do the voicing stuff, which was really a lot of fun. Each day was such a great day, you would get up, clear your throat … you don’t have to do your hair, don’t have to shower [smirks] … you just get to the studio and record the dialogue and boom you got a paycheck.

NRAMA: Do you see a future of you acting in more animation?

BO’H: I would love to do more animation; it’s a genre that is expanding more and more as we see with the success of Adult Swim for the Cartoon Network. And just the Cartoon Network in general and Comedy Central and you got channels like G4 that are starting to shop around for Anime and things like that. As for the future of animation, I think it will be more of the crossover of traditional anime with more Asian anime. It’s going to be a stronger influence on American entertainment.

NRAMA: Finally Brian, you’re in a new film (this one not connected with Kevin Smith) called Cluster a comedy/drama directed by Vincent Scordia. What is your role in the film?

BO’H: Cluster is a film featuring myself, Bronson Pinchot and Corey Feldman. I kind of compare it with an American Pie type of teenage sex romp. I actually play Dr. Jordan, the principal of the high school were a lot of the action takes place. We have the film over at Cannes film festival as we speak trying to get distribution.

Anchor Bay and VideoETA have announced a DVD release for “Brutal Massacre”, O’Halloran’s new horror-comedy. The flick hits home on July 22nd. Interestingly enough, the press release also reveals an O’Halloran appearance in the upcoming big summer horror release “The Happening” — Likely a small part, since this is the first we have heard of it, but still, great news. Perhaps Brian will drop us a line from some details if he’s able to break any of the secrecy on the M. Night Shyamalan project.

In the storyline, the comic’s lead character, Norman Platypus, again fails to meet his hero, Mr. Sloth. The Thursday and Saturday strip will both briefly feature the three-toed director. A little over a year ago, they ran a strip which mentioned Norm’s favorite film director ‘Kevin Sloth’ and mentioned a few of his movies (‘Clucks’ and ‘Chasing Ape-y’). Learn more about “My Cage” at their Myspace site or their blog. And watch for the new storyline this Thursday through Sunday! With permission, we’ll reprint some images here as well.

Art Vandelay wrote: You know what? I could live without a trailer. Really. But fuck that. Just be patient guys. Kevin is a busy man.


Kevin Smith wrote : Busy or not, Kevin’s certainly not gonna post the teaser on a holiday, when nobody’s at their computers. If I was Kevin, I’d post it Wednesday. [Ed. note – Now updated to FRIDAY.]

We’ll be here with the usual fanfare – Our take, screengrabs, mirrors, and anything else we can do to ease the traffic. Typically, on trailer release days, all the View Askew sites will slow to a crawl as folks grab their copies, so expect a longer load time, at least for a bit. If News Askew is taking a long time to come up for you on Friday, you can bet it’s because the teaser has arrived. We’ll see you back here soon, with what will be our first full motion look at the next feature from director Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and all the fine folks at View Askew Productions.

Here’s Chris and Dan with a brand new insightful interview conducted exclusively for News Askew:

AN INTERVIEW WITH DAN ETHERIDGE

BY CHRIS GRAVES

Chris Graves: For those who do not know, what is your background and how were you introduced to the world of View Askew and Kevin Smith?

Dan Etheridge: Kevin and I had a sort of crash-course in friendship about 13 years ago, when our personal and professional lives suddenly and vividly intersected. He was dating Joey Lauren Adams, with whom I had just become close friends while producing BIO-DOME. Around the same time — and completely coincidentally — Kevin had rewritten a movie called OVERNIGHT DELIVERY, and when they hired Jason Bloom to direct the movie shortly thereafter, I came on board to produce it. Kevin did another few drafts for us as we went into production.

So Kevin and I went, essentially, from 0 to 60, hanging out & working together quite a bit in a rather intense & wild period of time.

CG: What was your reaction to the “Dogma” controversy?

DE: I’ve always found Kevin’s work a sublime blend of the sacred and the profane… so it was no surprise that the profane ruffled more than a few feathers. In retrospect, what to say? It was a provocative piece, and it provoked.

There were two particulars that really angered me — the dangerous personal threats being one. Inexcusable, of course. And I have a particular dislike for people who criticize something they haven’t seen. Once they’ve seen, have at it… but until then, shut the fuck up.

CG: Can you tell me about your experience providing the voice of “Mr. Plug” in the “Clerks” animated series? Did you get to record with Alec Baldwin or separate?

DE: I didn’t ever to get work with Mr. Baldwin (Alec, that is), which is something I would have treasured. Man, 30 ROCK. So many people say now, wow, who knew Alec had that level of comic genius in him? Well, those of us who worked on the TV show knew — he was amazingly funny in it.

But I guess a lot of voiceover recording is a very independent outing, and so I recorded my stuff (as I think everyone did) without other actors.

The work itself was perhaps my favorite acting experience. I am (spoiler alert) drastically uncomfortable with my body. Okay, that wasn’t a spoiler, really. So, acting on screen or stage is always an exercise in overcoming that, or making it work for you. But voice-over acting? Awesome. No worries on that front. I loved every single second I was recording that show.

It did bring out funny little crutches (perhaps only funny to Kevin and David Mandel and me). The “evil robot” voice of Plug could only be accessed from my vocal chords if I pointed my finger at my own chest (which, if memory serves, was because the character itself did that once on screen, to access a keyboard hidden in his chest). I literally had to do that action on every line to find the voice, but it worked, so… bag o’ tricks? You betcha. Or, in my case… bag o’ trick. (Apologies to RT for stealing one of his great all-time lines.)

CG: What were your experiences like on the Pauly Shore movies “Bio-Dome” and “The Curse of Inferno” and how did you become involved with them?

DE: Pauly was a gent on both pictures. His public persona was built around a carnival atmosphere, and I didn’t know him well personally, so maybe that was his personal life, too. I dunno, though I suspect that was just a persona. But on the set — he was always on his game, always doing his work professionally.

BIO-DOME was a happy occurrence. I had gone to college with Jason Bloom, and I had quit my horrific nightmare development job for a producer’s wife at Columbia Pictures to produce Jason’s mega-USC thesis short film. This was in the days when mega-shorts were the way to get noticed as a director. So we went nuts making one, and the producers of BIO-DOME — which was a low-budget MGM movie — offered Jason the opportunity to direct it. Jason kindly wedged me in there as a co-producer, which really launched my producing career. It’s possible I’d still be eating Ramen and making shorts if that hadn’t happened. Actually, I still like to eat Ramen and make shorts… but I digress….

So we made BIO-DOME. It was psychotic — we made something for very very very very little money which only two very eager 26 year-olds could have decided to try and pull off. The movie happily gave our careers a kick-start… and like I mentioned earlier, it’s where I met Joey… which led to meeting Kevin both through her and through OVERNIGHT (my next movie with Jason). So you could quite easily say: no BIO-DOME, no meeting Kevin.

CG: In “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” you got to work exclusively with Will Ferrell. Was there any pressure to try and keep up with him?

DE: That was an absurd amount of pressure. Kevin had once again kindly asked me to be a part of one of his projects, and when I found out I would be doing a scene with Will Ferrell, I was simultaneously thrilled and scared to death. Truthfully (and, Kevin, I am not begging for you to refute this), but I feel like my awe of Will led me to not do the best job I could have done. You can decide; I think it’s deleted scene 23 on the DVD.

In my very brief experience with him, though, the happy news is that Will was gracious and hilarious. What more could you ask?

CG: How did “Veronica Mars” come about?

DE: If you haven’t noticed a theme in my career by now, I’ll make it explicit: as a producer, I try to find writers and/or directors whom I genuinely believe in, and then seek to work with them again and again. Typically those folks either were good friends or become good friends in the process. Frankly, it’s just a happy way to live life.

VERONICA MARS came about from one of my most valued of friendships. Rob Thomas and I had met several years earlier, coincidentally through Joey on the first night he was in LA. It took a little time, but before long he and I became close friends. In fact, we kind of held off working together, because you never want to fuck up a friendship over work. But before long, we did begin to develop material together. VERONICA MARS was something he had long wanted to do, and I helped him with the mystery story of the pilot and of Season 1. When it came time to shoot the series, Rob wanted someone he trusted down in San Diego to oversee the creative aspects of production; I eagerly wanted to produce that show. So it was perfect, really.

Commuting to San Diego from Los Angeles every week for the Monday-Friday shoot was challenging to the personal life over three seasons… but that’s literally the only negative. I think we made a great show (if I do say so myself), and the folks I worked with — cast, crew, everyone — were spectacular. Really one of the great experiences of my life.

CG: Would you cameo in more Kevin Smith movies in the future? Maybe a return of “Mr. Plug”?

DE: What do they say in Washington? I serve at the pleasure of the President.

Look, this sounds kind of kiss-ass, I know, but this is the fact: Kevin’s given me many opportunities to act on screen that I simply would not have had outside of him deciding to make it happen. I am eternally grateful for those experiences.

CG: Do you have any advice for young producers and filmmakers trying to make names for themselves in today’s entertainment industry?

DE: Every path is different, so I don’t know that any advice can be one-size-fits-all.

For me, working with people whom I genuinely respect has been the key to a happy life. Once you do that, all the arduous work of selling that material, making that material, offering up that material… well, it just comes easier. Because it’s from an honest place.

CG: Is acting and directing something you would like to get more involved in somewhere down the line?

DE: Rob hired me to direct a VERONICA MARS in Season 3 (which Paul Rudd from OVERNIGHT graciously guest-starred in), and that was a blast. It would be terrific to do that on another show that Rob and I produce down-the-road. And acting? Well, when things come along, I never turn them down, let’s say that.

CG: What is your favorite View Askew / Kevin Smith flick?

DE: CHASING AMY. If you’ve read the first part of the interview, I am sure it’s obvious why. Kevin AND Joey? Bliss.

CG: Do you have any new projects coming up?

DE: Rob and I are exec producing two pilots at ABC which he wrote — CUPID, which stars Bobby Cannavale, and GOOD BEHAVIOR, which stars Catherine O’Hara. And I’m always looking for the next indie movie…

CG: And finally, do you still keep in contact with anyone related to the world of View Askew?

DE: Beyond the fabulous troika of Kevin-Jen-Harley? One word: Malcolm. Okay more words: Malcolm Ingram. What a fantastic fellow; we’ve had some adventures. Or melodramas. Melodramatic misadventures, how about that?

Scott Mosier and I once in a blue moon have coffee to catch up, and he has always struck me as someone I wish I knew a lot better. One of the truly good guys in Hollywood, you know?

And of course Joey. If I didn’t feel totally absurd saying BFF, I’d say BFF. Oops, said.

Major thanks to Dan for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions. Continued success, Dan! Thanks also to Chris Graves for another round of fantastic questions, for without him, we wouldn’t have the great answers you just read above, of course. We’ll be back with more exclusive interviews from the folks of View Askew’s past and present soon.