Take Santa Photos With Kevin Smith For 1 More Night Only In Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — Want a super-unique Christmas card or holiday photo for the ages?

For one more night only, this Friday night, filmmaker Kevin Smith ("Clerks I, II and III") is taking photos with fans, families and kids — with himself dressed as Santa.

Smith is offering the Santa photos on Thursday and Friday nights only, out of the comic book store he owns in Red Bank, Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash at 65 Broad Street in Red Bank. It's $99 a person to book your photo with Santa, and you have to make a reservation here: https://www.exploretock.com/ja...

Clerks wrote and produced the '90s cult hit "Clerks," filmed out of the original Quick Stop convenience store in the Leonardo section of Middletown. "Clerks III" (Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson) filmed back at the same Quick Stop in the summer of 2021.

Also in 2021, Smith opened a podcast theater in Leonardo: It's called SModcastle and it's located at 58 Leonard Ave., only a few feet away from the original Quick Stop Groceries.

After the success of "Clerks," Smith went on to write and direct "Mallrats," starring Jason Lee, "Chasing Amy," with Lee again, Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams, "Dogma" with Affleck, Salma Hayek and Chris Rock, plus George Carlin and Alan Rickman, and then "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," followed by "Jersey Girl," "Clerks II" and "Zack and Miri Make a Porno."

Smith was born in Red Bank and attended Henry Hudson Regional High School in Highlands. He is rumored to still live locally in this area today.

He's loved comic books since he was a boy. After he wrote the script for "Clerks," Smith sold his comic book collection to finance the movie, which became an American cult classic. The movie captured slacker culture, the angst and frustration of American teenage youth and the darkness but also kindness that comes from living in small-town America (Middletown, NJ, USA). Smith worked at the Quick Stop Groceries where he filmed the entire original movie.