Clerk: First Look at the Trailer and Poster For Kevin Smith Documentary

Filmmaker Malcolm Ingram, a longtime friend and frequent collaborator of geek icon Kevin Smith, is releasing a documentary about Smith in November, and 1091 Pictures has shared a first look at the trailer for the movie with ComicBook. Titled Clerk, the movie features interviews with friends, family, and collaborators of Smith’s, and seems to have access that’s exactly as up-close-and-personal as you would expect from someone who has a long history with the filmmaker. The trailer kicks off with Ingram seemingly in the car with Smith, filming him as he pulls up to the Quick Stop, the convenience store where Clerks is set and the place where Smith was working when he decided to make his first movie.

Smith began his film career with Clerks, and first worked with Malcolm Ingram in 1996. Smith produced Drawing Flies, a comedy written and directed by Ingram and Matt Gissing, and starring Smith regulars Jason Lee, Renee Humphrey, and Jason Mewes.

You can see the trailer below.

The movie seems like a good companion to Smith’s own book, Kevin Smith’s Secret Stash: The Definitive Visual History. The coffee table book was released by Insight Editions and features a similar theme: Kevin Smith’s perspective that he no longer works a traditional job, since “being Kevin Smith” is what he does for a living.  The filmmaker took some lumps after movies like Jersey Girl and Zack and Miri Make a Porno didn’t make the kind of money Hollywood was expecting, but ultimately bounced back by finding his own path out of it: he started self-funding and self-distributing most of his movies (although he has returned to some more traditional distribution for Jay & Silent Bob Reboot and Clerks III).

Ingram also directed the 1999 Breckin Meyer movie Tail Lights Fade and a number of films dealing with LGBTQIA+ issues, including Small Town Gay Bar, Continental, and Bear Nation. He has frequently expressed admiration for Smith’s 1997 romantic comedy Chasing Amy, which centered on a man falling in love with a lesbian.

You can see the poster for the documentary below as well; it evokes the poster for the aforementioned Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, which was released in 2019 and is presently Smith’s most recent theatrical release.

An extensive all access documentary examining the life and career of indie filmmaking icon Kevin Smith. Featuring never before seen interviews with friends, family, filmmaking peers, and icons of the film, comedy and comic worlds.  

Clerk will be available digitally on November 23, 2021.