# Scott Mosier
**Scott Mosier** (born 1971) is a Canadian-American film producer, director, editor, writer, and actor, best known for his long association with director [Kevin Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-smith), whose early films he produced, and for directing the animated feature *[The Grinch](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-grinch-film)* (2018).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) He holds dual citizenship of Canada and the United States.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) • [2](https://www.viewaskew.com/scott.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971, Vancouver, Washington; father John Mosier was a Canadian from Saskatchewan, and Mosier spent his early life in both Washington State and British Columbia[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) |
| Breakthrough | Co-produced Kevin Smith's *Clerks* (1994), also serving as the film's sound editor and film editor and contributing to its budget[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) |
| Smith films produced | *Mallrats* (1995), *Chasing Amy* (1997), *Dogma* (1999), *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001), *Jersey Girl* (2004), among others[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/scott_mosier) |
| *Good Will Hunting* | Shared an executive producer credit with Smith; the two took Ben Affleck's screenplay to Miramax, which gave the film a $10 million budget that led to $126 million in U.S. ticket sales[4](https://www.viewaskew.com/press/inpgh.html) |
| Directing | Directorial debut with the animated *The Grinch* (2018), which grossed about $512 million worldwide[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) |
| Podcasting | Co-hosts the weekly podcast *SModcast* with Kevin Smith[5](https://www.earwolf.com/person/scott-mosier/) |
## Early life and education
Mosier was born in [Vancouver, Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/vancouver-washington). His father, John Mosier, was a Canadian from [Saskatchewan](https://www.edgepedia.org/saskatchewan) who moved frequently between Washington State and [British Columbia](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-columbia), and the younger Mosier spent his early life in both areas.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) In a 1998 interview he described the moves: at age five his family relocated to a suburb of Los Angeles, and at ten they moved to Vancouver, British Columbia; he left at eighteen to return to school in California.[6](https://www.viewaskew.com/interviews/scott/index.html)
His route into film was indirect. He spent about a year at U.C.L.A. and worked for about six months for producer David Permut, whose credits include *Dragnet*, before deciding he wanted hands-on training rather than theory.[6](https://www.viewaskew.com/interviews/scott/index.html) He enrolled at Vancouver Film School, where he met fellow student Kevin Smith and agreed to help Smith if he ever managed to direct a feature film.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) Mosier later said he had trained to be a writer-director but, having written and shot little by the time the opportunity came, he slipped into producing: his broad education in every aspect of filmmaking made him the one person on the team who had studied all sides of the work.[7](https://www.fullecirclemagazine.com/2011/05/smonversation-with-scott-mosier.html)
## The Kevin Smith partnership
**Clerks.** Mosier was recruited as producer of Smith's debut feature *Clerks* (1994), a black-and-white comedy shot for a budget of $27,000, much of it raised on credit cards, at the New Jersey convenience store where Smith worked; Smith edited the film himself with Mosier's help.[8](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/49115/files/2026/01/American-Film-History_-Selected-Readings-1960-to-the-Cynthia-Lucia-Roy-Grundmann-Art-Simon-1-2015-Wiley-Blackwell.pdf) Mosier also served as the film's sound editor and film editor and contributed to its budget.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) After a poorly attended industry screening, word of mouth moved through the independent film community; the film reached Sundance, was acquired, and traveled internationally.[9](https://indiefilmhustle.com/scott-mosier/) Mosier also acted in the film, playing Willam, the "Idiot Manchild," and an angry roof hockey player.[2](https://www.viewaskew.com/scott.html)
**Growth and setbacks.** Following *Clerks*, Mosier helped secure financing for *[Mallrats](https://www.edgepedia.org/mallrats)* (1995), made for the studio Gramercy, where he shared producer credit with James Jacks and Sean Daniel; he played Roddy, Svenning's obnoxious junior assistant.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) • [6](https://www.viewaskew.com/interviews/scott/index.html) • [2](https://www.viewaskew.com/scott.html) When *Mallrats* failed to meet expectations, the pair responded by reducing financial risk: *[Chasing Amy](https://www.edgepedia.org/chasing-amy)* (1997) was made cheaply enough that they could choose their own cast and focus on the story, an arrangement in which the cast worked at or near scale.[9](https://indiefilmhustle.com/scott-mosier/) • [10](https://sightlines.media/film/2255/chasing-amy-1997) Made on a $250,000 budget, it returned $12 million in ticket sales.[4](https://www.viewaskew.com/press/inpgh.html)
**Good Will Hunting.** Mosier and Smith read [Ben Affleck](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-affleck)'s screenplay for *Good Will Hunting* and took it to Miramax, urging the studio to make it; the film received a $10 million budget and grossed $126 million in the United States, and Mosier shared an executive producer credit with Smith.[4](https://www.viewaskew.com/press/inpgh.html)
**Later Smith films.** *Dogma* (1999) was financed by Miramax, with which Smith's company [View Askew Productions](https://www.edgepedia.org/view-askew-productions) held a first-look deal.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) • [4](https://www.viewaskew.com/press/inpgh.html) Mosier's first film with a budget of at least $20 million was *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001), and he secured a $35 million budget for *Jersey Girl* (2004), which underperformed at the box office.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) Across these films he was credited as producer and usually as film editor as well.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/scott_mosier) He described his role as that of a creative producer, whose job was to understand the intent of the filmmaker and set the guardrails around it, rather than simply managing budgets and schedules.[11](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2213048/episodes/15394960-scott-mosier-i-just-wanted-to-make-films?t=0) Smith himself called Mosier "the editing knife," the person who handed back his long first drafts with cut suggestions.[12](https://www.screenwritingsavant.com/uploads/7/7/3/9/77392480/best_of_cs_interviews.pdf)
The partnership continued until about 2010, when Mosier began trying to establish himself as a director.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/) He has said that after *[Zack and Miri Make a Porno](https://www.edgepedia.org/zack-and-miri-make-a-porno)* he decided to stop producing and move into animation.[11](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2213048/episodes/15394960-scott-mosier-i-just-wanted-to-make-films?t=0)
## Work beyond View Askew
Mosier's credits outside the Smith films include executive producer roles on the documentaries *Milius* (2013), *A Band Called Death* (2012), and *Best Kept Secret* (2013).[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/scott_mosier) In 2011 he contributed scripts for episodes of the animated television series *The Ultimate Spider-Man*, and he co-wrote the screenplay of the animated feature *[Free Birds](https://www.edgepedia.org/free-birds)* (2013), about time-traveling turkeys.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/)
His directorial debut came with the animated feature *The Grinch* (2018), an adaptation of [Dr. Seuss](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-seuss)'s 1957 book *How the Grinch Stole Christmas!*. The film was a box office hit, grossing about $512 million worldwide.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/)
## Podcasting and acting
With Smith, Mosier co-hosts the weekly podcast *SModcast*, which began as a recorded conversation between the two and grew into live shows; the pair sold out venues such as Hard Rock Live with audiences coming to hear their banter.[5](https://www.earwolf.com/person/scott-mosier/) • [7](https://www.fullecirclemagazine.com/2011/05/smonversation-with-scott-mosier.html) Episode 259 of *SModcast*, titled "The Walrus and the Carpenter," discussed a news story the two had read online about a homeowner offering free lodging to a lodger willing to dress as a walrus; the conversation became the origin of Smith's 2014 film *Tusk*.[13](https://edgemagonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/EDGE-Vol-14-Issue-4-compressed.pdf)
As an actor he has played small roles in Smith's films, including Willam in *Clerks*, Roddy in *Mallrats*, and Scotty in *Vulgar* (2000).[2](https://www.viewaskew.com/scott.html) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/scott_mosier)
## References
1. [Scott Mosier, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0608714/)
2. [Scott Mosier, View Askew Productions](https://www.viewaskew.com/scott.html)
3. [Scott Mosier, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/scott_mosier)
4. [The Press Room: In Pittsburgh, View Askew Productions](https://www.viewaskew.com/press/inpgh.html)
5. [Scott Mosier, Earwolf](https://www.earwolf.com/person/scott-mosier/)
6. [Interviews Askew: Scott Mosier (September 15, 1998), View Askew Productions](https://www.viewaskew.com/interviews/scott/index.html)
7. [Fülle Circle Magazine #103: A Conversation with Scott Mosier](https://www.fullecirclemagazine.com/2011/05/smonversation-with-scott-mosier.html)
8. [American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present (Wiley-Blackwell)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/49115/files/2026/01/American-Film-History_-Selected-Readings-1960-to-the-Cynthia-Lucia-Roy-Grundmann-Art-Simon-1-2015-Wiley-Blackwell.pdf)
9. [IFH 453: Clerks, Sundance and Making $500 Million+ at the Box-Office with Scott Mosier, Indie Film Hustle](https://indiefilmhustle.com/scott-mosier/)
10. [Chasing Amy (1997), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/2255/chasing-amy-1997)
11. [Scott Mosier: I Just Wanted to Make Films, Buzzsprout podcast episode](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2213048/episodes/15394960-scott-mosier-i-just-wanted-to-make-films?t=0)
12. [Best of ComingSoon.net Interviews, Screenwriting Savant](https://www.screenwritingsavant.com/uploads/7/7/3/9/77392480/best_of_cs_interviews.pdf)
13. [EDGE Magazine Vol. 14 Issue 4, Interview with Kevin Smith](https://edgemagonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/EDGE-Vol-14-Issue-4-compressed.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters › Film producers › American and Canadian film producers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license