Kevin Smith wants you to tell your stories

If you Google the words, "Is Kevin Smith..." the first thing the search engine will suggest is: "Canadian?"

He's not, but it's a fair question to ask.

Smith has long been obsessed with Canadian TV shows like Degrassi and SCTV. He attended the Vancouver Film School; and he was just here to work on Supergirl and The Flash.

He's in the midst of a series of Canadian-themed comedy horror movies, called the "True North trilogy." Films Tusk and Yoga Hosers have been released and Moose Jaws has yet to be screened.

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On Saturday, Smith will speak at the Vancouver Fan Expo, an annual gathering of comic book, sci-fi and other obsessive fandoms.

But first, he spoke with On The Coast host Stephen Quinn.

Your first big movie, Clerks, you dropped out of film school and sold your comic book collection for the $27,000 budget. How do you stake everything on a single idea like that?

It kinda felt like the obvious call. What was the alternative? At the time I was 22 and I was living at my parents' house so there was no financial risk. It was probably a year's salary or more at Quikstop at that point, but what was the alternative? That's what I wanted to do. I had seen Richard Linklater's Slacker and it was like a muse, calling to me: 'you could do this too.' It almost seemed commonsensical. I just couldn't sit around and say I am going to make a film one day. You have to put your money where your mouth is, bear down and do it.

I'm a 46-year-old-man, and I look back and I'm like, that idiot kid just assumed everything was going to work out. I don't know if I would urge that kid to do the same thing. But at the time, I was 22. It just made sense.

You do so many things: screenwriter, director, podcast host, comic book fan. What is the thing you like to do the best?

I guess just self-expression. You wake up and you're like, 'I think this about that,' and you jump on social media or put up a podcast or do a YouTube show. I used to have to do a movie about it. The really inventive stuff is the podcast because there you're unfettered by budget and time. It's literally the oldest form of storytelling: people sitting around telling stories to each other. Movies are sexy, don't get me wrong, but podcasting is the one that's, like, in my blood.

You're going to be telling stories this weekend, and I suspect listeners are going to get their money's worth.

If you come to a Kevin Smith show, you'll be laughing but you'll leave there inspired, I promise you that. 'Cause I'm a living example, right? I can get in front of these cats and not sell a line of bull. You can be that because I am that. They know I came from not the best schools and stuff, but from the ground, like them. I'm a fan who made good. I like to send 'em out charged up to remind them: you can do this.

One day I'm going to stop telling stories and go back to just listening to stories. I'm going to want entertaining stories. So go out there and start telling yours. I'm tired of seeing the same stuff all the time and the only way it's going to change is if your new voice comes into the mix. Let 'em know who you are before you leave this world.

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity. To hear the full interview, click the audio labelled: Kevin Smith wants you to start telling your stories