Kevin Patrick Smith was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, but grew up in Highlands, New Jersey, the son of Grace (Schultz) and Donald E. Smith, a postal worker. He is proud of his native state, which is reflected in all of his movies. Kevin is of mostly German, with some Irish and English, ancestry.
His first movie, Clerks (1994),was filmed in the convenience store where Smith worked. He was only allowed to shoot at night after the store closed. The movie won the highest award at the Sundance film festival and was brought to theaters by Miramax. The movie's success allowed Smith to make another film, Mallrats (1995).
During filming for Mallrats, Smith met his close friends and stars of his next movie, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and his girlfriend, Joey Lauren Adams. Smith's relationship with Adams inspired his next movie, Chasing Amy (1997),which won two independent Spirit awards: Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Role (for Jason Lee).
Smith broke up with Adams around the time Chasing Amy was wrapping, and then met his soon-to-be wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, just before the Spirit awards. After Chasing Amy, Smith started working on Dogma (1999),a controversial film about Christianity. Around this time, Smith's wife gave birth to their first baby girl, Harley Quinn Smith. Harley Quinn and Jennifer both have roles in Smith's next film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001).
In 2004, Smith wrote and directed Jersey Girl (2004),starring Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. Although the movie received some disappointing reviews and did not perform well at the box office, Smith said it did alright considering it was up against the "Bennifer Massacre" known as Gigli (2003).
In 2005, Smith wrote the screenplay for Clerks II (2006),which he planned to start shooting in January 2005. However, he got a call from Susannah Grant, who wanted him to audition for her new film. Smith went into the audition and, five minutes after finishing, he got a call saying he got the part. Filming began in January 2005, so Smith had to delay the filming of Clerks II. After Catch and Release (2006) finished filming, Smith shot "Clerks II" in September 2005. After cutting "Clerks II", they submitted it to the Cannes film festival, where it received an 8-minute standing ovation.
In 2006, Smith also got offered a part in the fourth "Die Hard" film, Live Free or Die Hard (2007). Smith got to film a scene with one of his idols, Bruce Willis, which took a week to film. In 2007, Smith was hired to direct the pilot for the show Reaper (2007),which received favorable reviews.
In 2007 and 2008, Smith wrote two scripts: a comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008),and a horror film called Red State (2011). Harvey Weinstein green-lighted "Zack and Miri", based just off the title, although they passed on "Red State". Smith plans to get "Red State" independently funded. Smith filmed "Zack and Miri" with comedy star Seth Rogen. The film did not meet expectations at the box office but received good reviews.
Smith was offered the chance to direct a film written by Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen called Cop Out (2010). Smith accepted, as it would be his first feature film that he had not written. He also hired Bruce Willis for the film.
