Talking 'Porno' with Kevin Smith
Writer-director fields fans' questions
BY SHARON LEFF Staff Writer

Kevin Smith

Although he hails from New Jersey, writer-director Kevin Smith attracted fans from across the country to his Nov. 7 question-and-answer session at the Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank.

During the "Evening With Kevin Smith," the Red Bank native took questions from his fans and discussed everything from his new film, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," to his opinion on comic book movies and the horror film he's written, "Red State."

Smith's other movies include "Clerks," "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," "Jersey Girl" and "Clerks II."

His newest movie is about two friends who decide to make a porno film after running into some financial difficulties.

Armed only with a microphone and a couch, Smith spoke to the packed theater from 7 to about 11:30 p.m.

He talked about how he got the ratings board to flip the rating for the new movie from an NC-17 to an R. He had previously talked his way out of an NC-17 rating for "Clerks" and was able to lower "Jersey Girl's" rating from an R to PG-13.

SHARON LEFF Fans wait in line outside the Count Basie Theatre before a Q&A session with filmmaker Kevin Smith.

"You don't make a movie called 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno' without realizing you're going to go under extra-close scrutiny," he said.

Smith cited graphic scenes in "Taking Lives" and "Jackass" when meeting with the Motion Picture Association of America in order to prove his movie didn't deserve the harsh rating.

"The argument was always, 'You're going to give us an NC-17 based on words?' " Smith said, explaining that in general his movies rely primarily on dialogue, not explicit imagery.

He also ran into problems when some venues refused to display the movie's poster of two stick figures standing next to a video camera, and in some instances the title of the movie was abbreviated in commercials to just include the characters' names.

"Everything was going so smoothly and then we hit the hiccup where some people wouldn't put the billboard up," he said.

Smith conducts Q&As at college campuses as well as international venues. Two compilations of his discussions have been released on DVD.

In film he is best known as the less talkative half of Jay and Silent Bob, and he has also appeared in "Catch and Release" as well as "Live Free or Die Hard."

When complimented about his candid responses during the evening, Smith said it's because "I have gone so much further than I ever thought in life, that I don't care."

Smith also talked about defending his home state against negative stereotypes. He said the problem is that people base their opinion of New Jersey on what they see when they fly into Newark Liberty InternationalAirport.

"What this state needs to do is put the airport in Holmdel," Smith said jokingly. "Holmdel is a perfectly nice place."

He said he has found people's perceptions of the state have improved as the years have gone on.

"It's called the Garden State not because we grow oil [refineries]," he said.

Before the night ended, Smith even inspired a romance between two platonic friends who had traveled from Ohio for the event. Smith agreed to pose for a photo with the duo only after the woman promised to initiate a relationship with her friend.

Ty Tichonchuk drove five and a half hours from Virginia to attend the event. He said he had never been to one of Smith's Q&As before, nor had he been to Red Bank.

His reason for making the long drive: "[I'm] just a huge fan," he said. Tichonchuk, who said he enjoyed Smith's latest movie, was looking forward to hearing him discuss "a little bit about the new movie that's out," he said before the show. "I liked ['Zack and Miri Make a Porno.' It was] much more romantic than what we probably expected going in."

Although they didn't drive, Rhet Bosher and Mabry Colvin made an even longer trip. They flew in from Dallas to hear Smith speak.

Bosher said he's seen all the movies and DVDs but had never previously attended one of Smith's Q&As.

He said he was looking forward to hearing the star talk about "stuff that doesn't make the DVDs. The type of things they tend to edit."

Fans from Smith's home state were also on hand for the event.

"I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan since 'Clerks', and I love his Q&A format," James Sozomenou, a Holmdel resident, said.

He said he enjoys Smith's first movie the best because of how raw it was. "Clerks" was shot in black and white, released in 1994 and was independently financed.

Bryan Pedicini, a Lacey resident, said he loves all of Smith's movies.

"I love just about everything that he's done," he said.

Smith was scheduled to do an autograph signing at his comic book store, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash on Broad Street, Saturday afternoon.

For more information and Smith's film, visit the Web site www.viewaskew.com.