Picture it: Summer 1995. A sheltered college sophomore starts a summer internship with (then) AT&T Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ. After befriending some fellow interns local to the area, they invite her to view a VHS tape of a film that is clearly meaningful to them. The film starred the former mailboy for the very Holmdel, NJ facility that the sophomore was working in and was shot in nearby map-dot Leonardo. This film reset her expectations in terms of both how funny and how shocking a movie could me. As you probably guessed, the intern was me and the film was Clerks. 11 years later I still titter on the inside if someone mentions the number “37″ in a business meeting.

My affinity for Clerks is such that I have been dreading the release of Clerks II. I felt there was no way that a director who went on to direct Jersey Girl could recapture the grit of ‘94 Clerks. The trailers were shocking to me, not because of content, but because of how much the actors portraying Randal and Dante have aged. Even the premise of two 32 year olds working as clerks is more sad than funny.

I should have known that Kevin Smith was too smart and too savvy to want to simply remake Clerks. He has been very open about why he is doing this (cash), the influence that the studio had on the picture (forcing him to cast Rosario Dawson for some name appeal), and how he has made a new premise work with many of the old players (new corporate setting, more mature angst). In addition to his very transparent interviews, Smith’s production company hosts his personal blog and message boards where he interacts with fans almost daily. The blog, subtitled My Boring-*ss Life, contains all of the un-edited riffs that you would expect. A recent post questions the professionalism of Good Morning America’s Joel Siegel who walked out 40 minutes into the Clerks II screening. The brazen way he handled this makes me remember why I loved Clerks and why I should give the new one a chance. Smith’s View Askew site also links to an official Clerks 2 site with making-of footage, Internet-only trailers that were too raunchy to be seen in the theater, and the ability to buy swag (you can get your own Mooby’s “funployee” namtag) before the movie even premieres.

Kevin Smith is leveraging new tools to invite his old fans to help him extend his established brand into a new decade. He’s talking directly to the folks with the power to make the premiere of Clerks 2 successful despite the critics. In honor of this progressive approach, I’ll be knocking off at 2 today to play hockey on the roof.

(Note: Some of these links lead to sites with questionable language)

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