What is Dogma about?
Go check out Dogma : Rumor Control for everything you always wanted to know about Dogma.

When did filming take place?
Filming took place in the Spring of 1998 from approximately March to June.

Who will be featured on the Special Edition DVD's commentary track?
Kevin, Scott Mosier, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, and Vincent Pereria

Where was it filmed?
Dogma was originally set to film in Toronto. However, the schedule was pushed back often enough that the weather would be too cold in Toronto. Next came Memphis, Tennessee, but that fell through. Finally, Pittburgh was decided. It is set - but was *NOT* filmed in - Chicago and other towns along the way between Chicago and New Jersey.

Wasn't it supposed to come after Clerks?
It *is* after Clerks. Seriously though, a studio wanted Kevin to make Mallrats and gave him around $6.1 million to do it. After that, he wanted to finish the trilogy with Chasing Amy.

What happened between Miramax and Disney?
Miramax was the company that was supposed to release the film, but problems arose due to the fact that Miramax is a Disney-owned company. In an effort to avert the controversy that was starting to brew care of William Donohue and the Catholic League, the Weinstein’s purchased Dogma from Miramax (and thus Disney) for somewhere between $10-14 million and set out to sell it to another company, which ended up being Lion’s Gate Films.

Why did the Catholic League care so much about the film?
Depends on who you ask. William Donohue (head of the Catholic League) claims that the movie is anti-Catholic, although he made all these claims before ever seeing the flick. He judged it based on the third draft of the flick that has been available at various sites around the net. The really interesting part of the story is that the Catholic League continued to attack Disney after they had nothing to do with the film, which would indicate that the "protest" had more to do with publicity than anything else.

Did William Donohue ever see the film?
Maybe… maybe not. He did get in touch with the View Askew offices with a request to see the film a few weeks before it opened (which was a full 6 months after he began speaking out against it). The said: "Dr. Donohue requests a special screening of Dogma so that he can speak about it intelligently." Kevin’s response was: "So what has he been doing the past six months?"

Is it true Kevin received death threats?
Most of the threats were actually aimed at the Weinsteins, but there were certainly threats sent. Many of them dealt with anti-semitic messages and talked about things like the "Jewish conspiracy," although one of them did mention the need for "flak jackets."

What was the inspiration for Dogma?
Kevin Smith : "I think it came from a lot of places, and one was of course my having been raised and still being a practicing Catholic. The other was comic books, which I think shows in the movie. There's no discussion of comic books like there was in the other movies, and there's no comic books in evidence, but the movie plays like a graphic novel and also some of the stronger comedic works of faith that people like Geoge Carlin and Sam Kinison have done in their routines."

Is it true Kevin wrote the script for Dogma around the same time as Clerks?
Yes it is. He originally planned to film Dogma second, immediately after Clerks, but it was decided that Dogma was too good a movie to be wasted on a follow-up effort that would most likely receive critical bashing when compared to Clerks. So, Mallrats came second, but then Kevin got the idea for Chasing Amy, so Dogma got pushed back.

How many drafts of Dogma did Kevin write?
In the end, there were around seven drafts for the movie.

Will we ever be able to read any of the other drafts?
Well, the third draft of the script can be found on various online script sites. The final draft, including many of the scenes that were filmed but got cut, is available to buy in book form. Other than that, the rights to the script belong to someone else and there fore Kevin cannot legally make them available, although there was a rumor at one time that the very first draft of the film was to be included on the Special Edition DVD this year. It does not currently look like this will happen, but you never know.

Is it true that Kevin asked Robert Rodriguez to direct the movie?
During a momentary lack of faith in his visual directing abilities, Kevin did indeed ask Rodriguez to direct. Fortunately, not only did Rodriguez decline, but he helped convince Kevin that he was the best man for the job.

I heard that the role of "Loki" was originally written for Jason Lee. Is that true?
Yes it is. However, due to other commitments, Jason had to turn down the role. Matt Damon came on board at that point. The filming of Dogma then got delayed and Jason was able to come onboard again, only this time he took the role of Azrael. Also, Emma Thompson was originally cast as "God," and Samuel L. Jackson was considered for the part of "Rufus" at one point. The part of "Bethany" was originally written for Joey Lauren Adams. Kevin also asked another person to play the role of Bethany at one point… Alanis Morrisette.

Why Alanis Morrisette as "God?"
It was just fortuitous timing really. Kevin had asked her to play Bethany at one point, but Alanis said no due to time constraints. As Kevin and crew were heading to Pittsburgh in early 1998 for rehearsals, Alanis called and asked if there was anything left to play. Since Kevin always wanted her involved, it worked out perfectly.

Why was Loki's Star Wars religious dialogue on the train cut? Time constraints?
This was in the Cannes version of the film, and quite frankly it just didn't play- it wasn't cut for time, just because nobody really responded to it.

In Dogma you can hear the DJ's on the radio talking about New Zoo Review. I asked a few weeks back about this in Chasing Amy. I was shocked to see it was planned in Dogma also. Was it the same line or just talking about the Zoo again?
Kevin says: "We used the same audio. "You Dropped the Bomb on Me" was originally in there, but it was too expensive. The Beastie Boys "Shake Your Rump" was also originally over the Jay driving shot, but they didn't allow us to use it. Well actually, Mike D and King Ad-Rock signed off on it, I was told, but MCA (Adam Yauch, I believe?) did not (to be fair, only Mike D saw the flick). It was a little disappointing, to say the least. I do so love that song."

As Silent Bob throws Bartleby off the train, Bartleby yells something. I can’t quite make out what he is saying. What is it?
Kevin : "Long story. Buckle in. Ready? We were working on 'Chasing Amy', and our old office on Broad St. was the production headquarters. Affleck - not being a mega-star in them thar days - would spend time off from the flick around the office, as there is little else to do in Red Bank besides make movies. One day, he noticed the German theatrical release poster for 'Clerks', and immediately insisted that we made it ourselves; that there was no way the flick traveled overseas, as it was a piece of Americana-laced horseshit (that's how an Affleck affectionately teases; at least, I'm pretty sure he was teasing...). Anyhoo, I countered by saying that 'Clerks' did play Das Fatherland, and that it'd gone over pretty well - so well, in fact, that they'd even sent us a poster and some lobby cards. He asked if they'd translated the flick or subtitled it, and I said when Scott and I watched it at the Munich Film Fest, it played in English with no subtitles, and folks laughed in the right places. I boasted (jokingly) that Germans were inundating me following the screening, touching my coat, whispering in awe "Schueller Bob!" He found that very funny, and from time to time, he, himself, would call me "Schueller Bob." He thought - as it was the implication, though I don't know German really - that 'schueller' meant 'silent'.

Years pass, and we're shooting the train scene in 'Dogma'. My hands grab Ben, he's supposed to turn and make a shocked utterance, and I pull him out of the shot. On the second or third take, he said "SCHUELLER BOB?!?" Me, him, and Mosier cracked up hysterically. He begged me to leave it in. I told him "Three people are going to get it." He said "No - it's more than that. It's back story." He then went on to explain that since Bartleby's been walking the earth since the plagues, he's come across many incarnations of Silent Bob - all of which had, in one way or another, thwarted Bartleby's plans (nevermind that Bartleby was always pretty straight-laced; Affleck never much cares for any backstory that he doesn't make up himself). And since the original angelic tongue was Germanic (Affleck's theory, based on nothing other than it suited his present hypothesis), Bartleby utters "Schueller Bob," when Bob grabs him in the fight, because in the heat of battle, Bartleby finally sees clearly the face of his immortal enemy through time.

Since he worked so hard on all that in such a short amount of time (about ten seconds or less), I said we'd do another take where he'd repeat "Schueller Bob," this time with no character break (we'd laughed aloud when he first said it). So to follow through, when I throw him off the train, he yells "I'll get you for this, Schueller Bob!!!"

It was a throwaway gag that only three people were very amused by. Now, you guys are let in on the joke.

Granted, it's not a very funny joke. It's just pretty much classic Affleck rationale in action. It's why I love the guy, and why those two flicks ('Amy' and 'Dogma') are marginally more precious to me than the other two: because for me, they'll always be the ones where Affleck shined the brightest - both on camera and off."

What in the world do the buttons say on Damon and Affleck's coats?
To wit, Affleck is wearing no button or pin. Matty's was a pin depicting Saint Michael the Archangel defeating Satan.

During your set updates you talked about a great ad-lib by Chris Rock. The title of the post was "Make a basket." Was that the ad-lib? Where would it have been?
Vincent says: It was during the first (post-strip dance) Serendipity scene- Serendipity originally had this long diatribe when Rock questions her about why she's a stripper and she says she was "trying to create something artistic to call my own" to which Rock replied, "Make a basket."

I heard a rumor that Kevin actually went and hung out with some of the protestors on opening night. Did he really do that?
Yes he did. Here’s Kevin describing that night: "I'd read about a potential protest of 500 people outside our local theatre in Eatontown. In an effort to better understand these folks, I decided to hang out with them. However, not wanting to seem disruptive, I drafted a few signs to carry ('To Hell With Dogma' and the slightly more amusing - though not that original I discovered when I hit the board late last night - 'Dogma is Dog-Shit'). Jen, Bryan and I headed over to the theatre to see what the climate was outside (beyond the 40 degree temperature).

The 500 weren't in evidence. The head count (including us) was twenty. We held our signs and quietly prayed the Rosary with the group for about an hour (well, I prayed the rosary; Jen and Bryan are relative heathens when it comes to the Mysteries and the Memorare'). I was even interviewed by a local newscrew, not as myself, during which I maintained that I was mad about the movie, and that I would not patronize it (although I couldn't help but mention that I liked the director's first film a little). A woman told me my sign wasn't appropriate (the 'Dog-Shit' one), and I apologized, offering that the movie wasn't appropriate, from what I'd been told. We agreed that it'd be better if I removed the offending word, so I did as much, rendering my sign a neutered 'Dogma is Dog'.

After the Rosary I got a chance to talk to some of the people in attendance (again, not wanting to ruin their night, I didn't say "Hi - I made 'Dogma'.") They told me that they were disappointed in the showing, but were glad to see someone young there (the average age of the group, excluding our trio, was about sixty). I was told some nasty things about my parents, and some nastier things about myself (or rather, the director). Jen - who's much more disturbed by these goings-on - asked if anyone had actually seen the film. Some mentioned reading a review, but that was about as close as they got.

In all fairness, these were nice, decent people who don't like what they heard about the flick. In truth, if they did see the movie, it wouldn't alter their opinion. I didn't feel negative toward them in the least (in fact, I admired the fact that they were outside in the cold, too far from the theatre to really be effective, but willing to take a stand regardless). At the end of the day, we're not that different - we two groups of Catholics. They just have a different set of values from me, and a lot more reverence for the Church itself than for the words of our Lord.

They seemed nice enough, though. However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that they didn't have any donuts or coffee out there.

Point is, I didn't get in their face or flame them - as the Catholic League enthusiast in our midst seems to think is appropriate. That would be like an atheist going into church and yelling contrarian sentiments at the priest mid-Mass. I'll never understand the folks who can't simply dislike something (as Christians, we're not supposed to hate), and feel the need to go to a place where folks who DO like something (and aren't hurting anyone in the process) congregate, and get up in their face about feeling the opposite. If I don't like something, I pay little or no attention to it, or just flat-out ignore it (unless it was something like rape or murder; as much as I loathe rapists and murderers, if I ran into one - mid-act - I couldn't simply ignore them or their evil acts; I'd kill myself trying to stop them).

But that's what these people outside the theatre equate with what they perceive to be Catholic-bashing: rape or murder. To them, a perceived attack on their faith is tantamount to physical harm on someone. And while that's a little screwy in opinion (because, let's be honest - God is a lot stronger than these people let on, and faith is a concept, not a human life), I can't knock them for it. Like I said - their values are just different than mine.

However, that doesn't make me wrong and them right, or vice versa. It just makes us different, and we take different "approaches toward the same thing: Heaven.

Way back towards the end of filming, Kevin mentioned that he had an "epiphany" about the ending of the film, which caused him to rethink the end. What was it?
Vincent says: The whole bit with God "cleaning up" the street- that wasn't in the script.

Was the "Fat Albert" scene ever filmed? How about the "Hosties" commercial which was in the third draft?
The "Fat Albert" scene was indeed filmed and will most likely show up on the DVD. Unfortunately, the "Hosties" commercial was never filmed.

Who's Ron and why does Loki sing "Who's house? Ron's house" after shooting the man on the bus?
It's not Ron, it's Run. As in Run DMC. The song he sings is actually a song buy Run DMC called "Run's House," and it can be heard in Chasing Amy. It's a little nod to that.

Was the "Mooby boardroom" scene supposed to be a jab back at Disney for dropping the flick?
No. Kevin says: "As for my speculation that Disney dropped the film over the 'Mooby' scene, as discussed in 'Entertainment Weekly': that made me laugh. I was joking about that at the Rider appearance, and it wound up in the magazine. Believe me - that scene had no bearing on why we were cut loose. In fact, I just got a fax from Mister Michael Eisner himself, which was a copy of that article, and a quick note that said "Kevin - I thought that scene was funny!"

One of my friends said he saw Dogma before the official release date on November 12, 1999. How is that possible?
Any number of ways actually. Dogma had several test screenings in the spring of 1999. Two in Philadelphia and at least one in both New York and Los Angeles. Then there were the two screenings of the movie that occurred at the Cannes Film Festival. There were two separate screenings of the film at the Toronto Film Festival and the official United States premiere, which occurred at the New York Film Festival. If that is not enough, a View Askew Web Board screening occurred a few weeks before the release and there were many colleges across the country which showed sneak peeks during the week preceding the 12th.

Since Kevin puts a Jaws reference in every single one of his movies, where is the reference in Dogma? Did I just miss it?
No, you didn’t miss it. It got cut during the editing process.

Is the name of the bus company (Derris) a reference to Rick Derris from Clerks?
Yes it is. In fact, there are numerous "Easter eggs" that can be found in almost all of Kevin’s movies/comics. Why not head over to this website: www.angelfire.com/sys/popup_source.shtml?Category= and check them out.

After Jay shoots off Bartleby’s wings, Bartleby is human. Therefore, if Jay just shoots him and kills him, Bartleby won’t be able to go through the archway. Why didn’t Jay do that?
The reasoning behind this theory is correct. If they could have shot and killed Bartleby they would have. But they couldn’t do it. Why? "No buh-wets."

What was "God" originally supposed to say when Bethany asks her "Why are we here?"
"God" was originally supposed to say the line, "I have one word for you; just one… plastics." (A Nod to "The Graduate")

When Bethany and Silent Bob run up to the hospital, why are people running out screaming?
In the first cut of the film there was a battle between Silent Bob and the Golgothan inside the hospital. The people running out are responding to the fact that the Golgothan had arrived at the hospital.

How does Bethany get hurt during the hospital scene?
If you look carefully you can see that a burst of light from the "God-husk" seems to tear through her stomach.

If angels can’t drink, how does Bartleby drink with Bethany on the train?
He doesn’t. Even though it never shows him actually drinking, many people assumed that he did. In fact, the script indicates otherwise: "Bethany and Bartleby slump in their booth, the table loaded with empty glasses. Bethany is quite tipsy. Bartleby hasn’t touched his booze."

How did Kevin manage to have all those big stars in the movie and still keep the budget under $10 million?
Well, the actors all worked for what is called scale. Basically, it’s the minimum wage for Hollywood. It translates into $596.00 per day (roughly $3000.00 a week). When you make several million dollars per picture, that’s a pretty hefty pay cut. The reason the actors did it? Various reasons ranging from someone like Chris Rock who really wanted to work with Kevin to Ben Affleck who has said that he would always be in a Kevin Smith movie, no questions asked.

How did Bethany get the wound in the hospital? Is it like stigmata?
Our very own Kim Loughran answered this question like this: "Kind of, but not stigmata. The idea is just that the powerful release of GOD from the human body into a spiritual form acted like a piercing laser light, which ran her through and, well, killed her, like any intestinal gutting would a human being."

Where did the name Bethany Sloan come from?
The name was picked by Kim. It was only after that she learned the derivations of the name and how true to the character they were.

Bethany = daughter of the Lord (Hebrew)
Sloan = Warrior (Celtic)