Kevin Smith: His Films and Fans

This fun and photo-filled biography celebrates the life, films, and fans of the director responsible for such indie cult classics as Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Movie-industry veteran David Gati has compiled and edited a humorous and insightful look at Smith’s nearly 30-year filmmaking journey. Through Smith’s own funny, honest, and uncensored stories—taken from podcasts, Q&As, and documentaries—readers get to know him as a person, the struggles he’s been through, and the people he’s worked with, as well as his process for writing, directing, casting, shooting, editing, and showing his films to the public. The book is arranged chronologically with each chapter exploring how an aspect of Kevin’s life is reflected in one of his 14 films. Not to be overlooked is Smith’s outsized fan base, who relate to the director’s down-to-earth persona and his geeky, sometimes juvenile, often-nostalgic regular-person characters. Gati uses their fan art to add a visual facet to the book’s colorful narrative gems. Rounding out this scrapbook presentation are on-set stills, candid personal photos, and memorabilia.
The result is an exploration of how films affect and reflect the popular culture of their time, with a light-hearted analysis of the phenomenon of fandom. This unusual biography is a must-have collectible dedicated to a member of the ’90s independent filmmakers—which includes Quentin Tarantino, Allison Anders, Robert Rodriguez, Hal Hartley, and Spike Lee—whose relevance and popularity will only continue to grow.