Forgoing the control of the major Hollywood studio system to instead connect directly with dedicated fans of independent subculture has largely contributed to the success of acclaimed filmmaker Kevin Smith. The writer-director-producer rose to prominence in the mid-1990s by launching his buddy comedy View Askewniverse universe, whose first entry is the critically acclaimed indie movie, ‘Clerks.’ After receiving positive feedback at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994, the feature quickly became a cult classic.

Smith decided to share his experience of making his seminal debut feature film with fellow scribe-helmer-producer and longtime friend, Malcolm Ingram, who he met while promoting ‘Clerks’ at Sundance. Ingram directed and produced the new documentary ‘Clerk,’ to showcase how the indie comedy sensation has influenced Smith’s life and cinematic output.

‘Clerk’ is now available on Blu-Ray and VHS, which are solely available for purchase on the website of Ingram’s new distribution company, Mercantile Instinct. The Blu-Ray includes such special features as new commentary with Smith and Ingram; extended interviews with Stan Lee, Judd Nelson, Jason Reitman and Richard Linklater; new interviews with Ralph Garman and Joe Manganiello; an extended introduction; an alternate ending; the official trailer; commentary with the Stanley Brother: Sean Stanley (‘Clerk editor) and his brother Warren (teaser poster designer) discuss the movie and their experiences being fans who made it good; and an immersive behind the scenes documentary examining Smith’s life and career.

‘Clerk’ follows Smith as a first-time helmer from before he takes the world by surprise at Sundance with his seminal indie comedy sensation ‘Clerks’ and follows his life and cinematic output since. Like the filmmaker’s movies, the documentary examines his affinity for countless notable topics, from male relationships and sexuality to religious fanaticism and comic book culture.

The movie uses interviews, clips, testimonials and never-before-seen archival footage. ‘Clerk,’ which was penned, directed and produced by Ingram, is a colorful oral history of one of the entertainment industry’s most incredible journeys, as told by his friends and collaborators, industry professionals and Smith himself.

Ingram generously took the time recently to talk about helming and producing ‘Clerk’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed that he was interested in making a fun documentary that teaches viewers about Smith’s life and career. Ingram also divulged that he decided to launch Mercantile Instinct to release the movie after talks with major studios failed to garner him a satisfactory distribution deal.

The conversation began with Ingram explaining why he was inspired to make ‘Clerk.’ “I had a relationship with Kevin Smith for a long time. I met him in 1994 at the Sundance Film Festival, when he was there for ‘Clerks,’ and I was a journalist for a magazine called Film Threat. We had a long relationship. I did a cover story about ‘Mall Rats’ for Film Threat, so we kind of got to know each other,” he shared.

“Then the 25th anniversary of ‘Clerks’ came up, and talks about writing a book came up. So I was asked if I wanted to write a book, but I’m lazy. So I said, “I’m not going to write a book, because I don’t want to do all of that writing. But I’ll make a documentary,” the filmmaker continued.

“I’ve been around for a lot, so I wanted to make a fun documentary that would teach people who have never met Kevin a little bit about him. I also wanted to make a film that’s fun for the fans. My biggest mission was to please the fans,” Ingram divulged. “I don’t know if that should be the mission for a documentarian, but that’s what my mission was for this film.”

Ingram then delved into how he approached helming the movie once production began. “Anyone who has ever been on one of Kevin’s Q&As knows that when you ask him one question, he goes on for 45 minutes. He’s going to tell the story he wants to tell,” he noted.

“We filmed a lot, just to make sure that we had everything we needed. Kevin, being a filmmaker himself, is no stranger to interviews.

We had to do a lot of interviews to get the stuff that I felt we needed,” the filmmaker divulged. “It was an easy process, but it was also a long process.”

Further speaking about securing and conducting the interviews for ‘Clerk,’ Ingram then delved into how he decided who he would speak with for the feature, and what types of questions he would ask them. “We threw out a wide net because I didn’t want the film to be a standard talking head oral history about ‘Clerks.’ That’s why I was thrilled to get people like Penn Jillette, who fits into the story, but isn’t the first person you think would be in a Kevin Smith documentary. So it was really thrilling to get a voice like that.

“Also, to get a voice like Richard Linklater was amazing. To me, he was one of the most important people to get because he kind of serves as the genesis of it all,” the director added.

“So there were some people who I really wanted to get. I really wanted to speak to Kevin’s wife and daughter, as well as Scott Mosier. There were also certain people who I had to speak to for the film, like Michael Rooker, who I thought who be fun to include, and he said yes,” Ingram added.

The filmmaker then disclosed how he decided which clips and archive footage to include in the film. “My editor (Sean Stanley) gets a lot of the credit. When I’m filming, I’m constantly on the road, so I rely on Sean to help put my films together,” he explained.

Stanley’s “been my editor for over a decade. He’s good at compiling narrative with clips. It’s the style we’ve used on all of our films so far,” Ingram continued.

“So essentially Sean and I will talk about what we’re trying to evoke and present. Sean will go out there and find the clips that we need to fill out the documentary,” the filmmaker noted. “Sean is very much a partner in making these documentaries. I’m very lucky to have such a good editor.

“I think it’s a director’s job to find the right people for each job, and leave them alone to do their job. I don’t edit my own films because I’m not an editor. So it’s best to find someone who has a deep interest in editing,” Ingram also noted.

“I think as a filmmaker, you should collaborate as much as possible, but also let your collaborators have their own voice. Filmmaking is very collaborative. Directors get way too much credit, which they shouldn’t, because everyone’s putting their own efforts in,” the documentarian noted.

Besides directing the film, Ingram also embraced the experience of serving as a producer, as well. “It’s funny – my producer, Craig Fleming, and I have been friends for a long time. We partied a lot together back in the ‘90s,” he shared.

“We’ve always been looking for something to work on together. I was a social issues documentarian, and I think Craig wanted to take on some issues. Then the movie he came onto was the Kevin Smith documentary, which is more of a fun thing,” the filmmaker shared.

“Craig helped us through very complicated times. Kevin and I had a lot of disagreements and stopped talking for a year. We then were supposed to premiere at SXSW in 2020, but then the pandemic happened,” Ingram divulged.

“I’m lucky that I had a producer who had the spirit of not giving up. I think that a lesser man would have given up because we faced so many challenges with this film, and Craig had to deal with a lot. It took a lot to get this film to the screen. So if I didn’t have someone as versatile as Craig, it would have been a lot harder to make it, if we were able to make it at all,” the producer admitted.

“The pandemic really affected us. SXSW was the first festival to be cancelled. I was vacationing in Florida with my mother, and my next stop was to go to SXSW. Then all of a sudden, it was cancelled, and the pandemic took over,” Ingram continued.

“Of course, the pandemic is far more important than a film, but we were really excited to go to the festival. But the world stopped, which led us on an interesting journey with this movie,” the filmmaker emphasized. “I would never go through it again in a million years, but I’m glad it’s out there.”

After ‘Clerk’ went on to have is Virtual World Premiere at SXSW 2021, after the 2020 edition of the festival was cancelled, Ingram decided to release the documentary on Blu-Ray and VHS. He delved into the process of deciding how he would release the movie after its premiere

“We had a lot of problems with distribution…so ultimately, when it came time to do the Blu-Ray, we wanted to do something that Kevin’s fans would really like, including the special features. We interviewed people like Ralph Garman, who are a big part of Kevin’s life, but we unfortunately couldn’t include him in the documentary,” the helmer explained.

“We had certain distributors for certain aspects of the film, but they just didn’t have a clue on how to connect with Kevin’s audience. So things weren’t handled properly. Not everyone involved in the distribution was like that, as there were certain people who were,” Ingram divulged.

“It got so bad at a point that I thought, I can do this better. So I put my money where my mouth is and we started a distribution company. We said, ‘Let’s put this out ourselves. If we can figure this one out, I have a backlog of movies that we can also release. We can also help other people get their movies out,’” the filmmaker concluded.