The movie Clerks was written and directed by Keven Smith whom before making his film worked in a convenience store in Leonardo, New Jersey. He had started working in the store after dropping out of film school he was attending.
It wasn't until 1991 that he got the idea to write a script for a low budget movie that he thought he could do from a movie he saw called "Slacker".
The movie Clerks was said to have cost Keven Smith $27,575. To get the money he had needed he maxed out all of his credit cards and also borrowed some money from his parents to make it all happen.
The movie was filmed in the same store Smith had been working in as a convenience clerk. The owners allowed him to film during the night hours while the store was closed. Due to the yellowish green lighting in the store it was filmed in black and white. All of the blinds in the store where closed to not give off the fact it was filmed at night.
Kevin Smith
During the making of the film Smith did have to continue working as an actual clerk during the day at the store and film at night. Due to this he didn't get much sleep but of course as we all know it was well worth it in the end. Filming lasted a total of 21 days to shoot and with a few changes made to the movie it was picked up by Miramax.
