- We always love when the web sites get press! This New York Times web piece interviews Kevin briefly about his vast presence on the web, including the very site you’re reading right now. They call it…
By CRAIG MODDERNO
Kevin Smith wrote and directed the slacker hits “Clerks,”, “Dogma”, and “Chasing Amy,” but lately it is his other life – maintaining six Web sites that he describes as “devoted to my fans and my films” – that seems to consume him.
“One site deals with comic books, another gives new filmmakers a chance to communicate and another offers merchandise from my movies,” he said. “On one site I’ve got news about every major actor I’ve worked with; reviews of my movies that are written by fans, which pull no punches, and notices about special events.”
Viewaskew.com, the site of his production company, made its debut in June 1996 and has the highest profile of Mr. Smith’s Web enterprises. But together, the six sites receive more than 100,000 hits a day and have nine employees, he said. Mr. Smith won’t reveal how much money the sites generate. “Let’s just say I make enough money to take my wife and daughter on a nice vacation, which I did last year,” he said. “And I still spent two hours each day on the Web sites, vacation or not, because the sites can pay off in other ways.”
For example, when his film “Jersey Girl” came out – amid a flurry of publicity about its stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez – Mr. Smith recalled, “I went on my sites, offered film clips, interviews with my actors, and talked to the fans directly about the film.” That, he feels, helped the movie at the box office and in DVD sales.
Mr. Smith, 35, is working on “Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks,” tentatively scheduled for release in the spring. “All I can say about ‘Clerks 2′ is that it deals with what happens to this angry young man when he becomes 35 and is no longer relevant to society since he’s not in the age group targeted by corporations anymore.”
That message, Mr. Smith said, will resonate with his most dedicated audiences. “My Web sites tell me my fan base is overeducated, underemployed slacker college kids like my two ‘Clerks’ characters and generally myself,” he said. “It’s as if I’m the local garage band that became famous and then kept the fans they had when they were unknown and now they’ve become close friends and want to make more and better music together.”
- The UK’s Channel 4 has started running “My Name Is Earl” promos, stating that the show will soon air overseas on Friday nights. No start date has yet been announced.
- The perfect stocking stuffer for the View Askew fan in your life – PEEL AND STICK BUDDY CHRISTS! These peel and stick Buddy Christ decals are high quality stick-ons that are fully removeable, weatherproof and reusable. Originally designed as high-quality auto decals, the Buddy can be put on any flat surface and can be removed at any time, yet they cling as tightly as a regular sticker does. Each sheet contains 1 large 8” inch Buddy Christ, 1 4” inch Buddy Christ and 2 3” inch Buddy Christs. Buy em cheap HERE!
“Filmmaker Kevin Smith (l.) joined Sin City co-directors (l. to r.) Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, special makeup effects supervisor Greg Nicotero and guest director Quentin Tarantino at a screening and Q&A of the film’s recut, extended, unrated DVD at the ArcLight Theatre in Los Angeles. Special features on the DVD, which bows in stores Dec. 13, include filmmakers commentaries, more than 20 minutes of additional footage, bloopers, making-of featurettes and an interactive game.”
