Kevin Smith is an actor, director, producer, author and podcaster that came to prominence directing the low-budget, cult classic film Clerks. His films vary in plot and thematic elements, ranging from comedy to horror, as well as drama. He also owns a comic book store in Red Bank, New Jersey, called Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. The store is the setting for his reality TV show Comic Book Men, which he developed and stars in. With that, let’s take a look at Smith’s career, beginning with his net worth!
Kevin Smith Net Worth: $25 Million
Smith’s net worth is an estimated $25 million, which he has accumulated primarily through his filmmaking endeavors but also through personal investments and his comic book store, the aforementioned Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. Let’s dive in and see how he rose to that amount!
The Early Years
Smith was born in the town of Red Bank, New Jersey and was raised in nearby Highlands. His father, Donald, was a postal worker and his mother, Grace, was a homemaker. Smith said that would see how his father grew to hate his job and Smith said he vowed to himself to never work in a job that he hated. An average high school student, he got his start in filmmaking by videotaping the high school basketball games and developing comedy sketches in the same vein as Saturday Night Live.
Upon seeing the Richard Linklater film Slacker, Smith was inspired to become a professional filmmaker. He said that he really loved how Linklater set the movie and shot it in his hometown of Austin, Texas, rather than using a Hollywood set. Many of Smith’s films are set in New Jersey, a reflection of this attitude towards filmmaking.
He got a job at a convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey, which would become the now famous setting for his inaugural film Clerks. Clerks became his signature film, often hailed as one of his finest works. It tells the story of a day in the life of convenience store employees as they interact with customers and the slackers outside the store, Jay and Silent Bob. Smith played Silent Bob, a character that rarely speaks but carries a comedic presence along with Jay, the loud-mouthed drug dealer played by Smith’s friend Jason Mewes.
Smith then went on to direct Mallrats, another film set in the same universe as Clerks, once again featuring the characters of Jay and Silent Bob. It didn’t do nearly as well as Clerks but fared much better in the home video market.
1997-2006
Following Mallrats, Smith directed Chasing Amy, which has been his best critically received movie to date. Telling the story of a man that is in love with a lesbian woman, the film was a different direction for Smith and was seen as a career evolution from the more low brow humor of Clerks and Mallrats.
Over the next few years, he would direct the critically panned Jersey Girl, a religious-themed comedy Dogma, a movie set around the Jay and Silent Bob characters titled Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and a follow up to his first film called, what else, Clerks II.
2007-Present
His first film outside the universe he had set up with Clerks, titled Zach and Miri Make a Porno, starred Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. This film ran into struggles with advertising, leading to a financial disappointment at the box office. Following that movie, Smith went on to direct a series of horror films Red State, Tusk and Yoga Hosers, the last one starring his daughter Harley Quinn Smith.
After running into a series of problems trying to get Clerks III off the ground, Smith returned to horror filmmaking and is currently working on a movie called Kilroy Was Here.