From 'Clerks' to 'The 4:30 Movie,' Kevin Smith keeps his connections with his film's fans

Kevin Smith shot out of nowhere thirty years ago to become a Cannes- and Sundance-honored filmmaker for his made-on-a-shoestring comedy “Clerks.” Sudden success for a filmmaker means sudden requests for press tours and film screenings followed by pithy remarks during question-and-answer sessions.

Smith wasn’t ready for that.

“I felt like I couldn’t wax erudite on the subject of film,” the New Jersey native told the Burlington Free Press in an Aug. 21 phone conversation from Los Angeles. “I had made one film.”

Maybe he couldn’t sound like a film snob, Smith realized, but he could talk about how he was able to get a cat to do its business on command for a scene in his debut movie. A “side hustle,” as he called it, was born.

Smith began holding Q&A sessions for fans, and he’s still at it. The director whose next film, “The 4:30 Movie,” comes out Sept. 13, will be at Higher Ground for two appearances Saturday, Aug. 31, at which he and fans of his films can wax something less than erudite about topics of their choosing.

“It’s up to the audience where we go,” according to Smith. “I’ll follow any path they want to go.”

Making ‘The 4:30 Movie’

Smith was late for his phone chat with the Free Press because he was out walking his two German shepherds. He’s late for his Higher Ground appearance as well, as the sessions are making up for a postponed appearance May 19, when he was called away to edit a movie by a friend and first-time director, the rapper Logic.

“First time I’ve ever cut a movie that’s not mine,” Smith said of Logic’s film, “Paradise Records.” “He’s got a director’s eye; he’s a natural.”

Smith, known for his multiple “Clerks” and “Jay and Silent Bob” movies, releases his own new film when “ The 4:30 Movie ” comes out two weeks after his Higher Ground appearances. “The 4:30 Movie” is set in 1986 and was filmed in Smith’s hometown movie theater in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, a theater known as Smodcastle Cinemas that he now owns.

Most of Smith’s films are informed by the 1990s. This one goes back a decade to Smith’s high-school years, presenting “an alternative version of myself” on a first date. “The 4:30 Movie” is the latest example of a long-time filmmaker dipping into nostalgia, as Stephen Spielberg did for an Academy Award-nominated 2022 film.

“It’s less ‘Fabelmans’ and if I had to make a nod anywhere it’s more ‘Licorice Pizza’ (by) Paul Thomas Anderson,” Smith said of his movie involving teens hopping from theater to theater after buying one ticket to see as many films as possible in their local multiplex. “Certainly it’s a nostalgia piece for people my age who did the same thing.”

Smith made one more nod to a filmmaker who influenced his generation, saying “The 4:30 Movie” gave him the chance to “go into John Hughes country.”

“It’s really a sweet flick,” he said.

Finding meaning in ‘Mallrats’

Smith may talk about “The 4:30 Movie,” or most anything else, at his Higher Ground appearances. He went into his Q&A side hustle assuming the same 1,000 people would keep showing up.

“It turns out we’ve got fresh blood coming in,” Smith said. “The lion’s share of the audience is people who’ve never been to one before. How sweet! Now I can tell old-ass stories rather than new material.”

Smith’s films are known for raunchy, snarky content, so he’s perpetually surprised when fans at his Q&As talk about how much his films have shaped their lives. He mentioned a recent appearance in Cincinnati when a man spoke of how he and his grandmother bonded over Smith’s films and that after she passed away, events such as Smith’s sessions bring her back for a moment in time.

“It’s not just ‘We saw your movies once’ or whatever,” according to Smith. “You realize you’re a part of the fabric of that family’s quilt.”

That passion sometimes catches Smith off-guard. “It’s ‘Mallrats’ – I can’t believe that movie means something to you,” he said, referring to his follow-up flop after “Clerks.” But for some fans, he said, even that film “is their buoy in a stormy sea.”

Making money by making movies is great, but now that he’s in his mid-50s, Smith said it’s not the main thing.

“The older I get the currency that spends the most is relevance to me,” Smith said. “Having that attention on stage for a couple of hours is everything.”

If you go

WHAT : An evening with Kevin Smith

WHEN : 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31

WHERE : Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington

INFORMATION : $40 in advance, $45 day of show for 10 p.m.; the 7 p.m. appearance is sold out. www.highergroundmusic.com

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com .

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: From 'Clerks' to 'The 4:30 Movie,' Kevin Smith keeps his connections with his film's fans