When Deren Abram starting asking actors to share their thoughts on the late director Bob Clark for Abram’s cinematic tribute to his old friend, “ClarkWORLD,” plenty of recognizable names signed up.

Jon Voight. Mary Steenburgen. Peter Billingsley.

The cast of “Porky’s,” Clark’s iconic contribution to the sex comedy genre, was another matter.

They balked at not getting paid for their time, says Abram who funded the indie documentary himself.

“Porky’s” cast member Kim Cattrall was the exception.

“She was just a sweetheart. She was happy to do it,” he reports.

Clark had a positive effect on many of the people on his sets. Billingsley, who played Ralphie in Clark’s “A Christmas Story,” credits Clark for shaping his sturdy work ethic.

But Clark’s film achievements didn’t end with catch phrases like, “you’ll shoot your eye out!”

“Bob was ahead of his time. He was a pioneer … even if he failed miserably sometimes,” Abram says.

Clark directed “Black Christmas,” a slasher film that helped create the killer’s point of view element. His 1973 film “Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things” beat other zombie comedies to the punch by more than a decade, Abram notes.

Clark also has his share of clunkers like “Baby Geniuses” and “Rhinestone.”

“He treated each one as if he was making ’Hamlet,’” Abram says.

And he didn’t take his failures too seriously.

One of the first times Abram met Clark the former overhead the director getting flack for making “Rhinestone.”

“I chimed in, ’I kinda liked that movie,’” Abram recalls, to which Clark replied, “it takes all kinds.”

Abram hopes “ClarkWORLD” shows audiences the man behind films like “A Christmas Story,” “Porky’s” and, yes, “Rhinestone.”

“He lived very modestly. He didn’t care about celebrity. He could barely operate a cell phone, but he was always putting films together in his head,” Abram says.

(Photo: Deren Abram chats up actress Kim Cattrall for the new documentary “ClarkWORLD,” out Nov. 3 on DVD.)

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Millions consider Bob Clark’s yuletide favorite “A Christmas Story” like another member of the family.

Denver-based filmmaker Deren Abram felt that way about Clark himself.

The two worked together on a variety of film projects before Clark’s automobile-related death in 2007.

“Once you’re in Bob’s family he fully embraced you,” Abram says.

Now, Abram is remembering Clark, both the man and the filmmaker, with his new documentary “ClarkWORLD: The Story of a Storyteller.”

The film, coming out on DVD Nov. 3 and cable VOD  Nov. 29, recalls the career of the director responsible for “A Christmas Story,” “Porky’s” and “Black Christmas.”

Few directors can match that kind of range.

The documentary features Jon Voight, Kim Cattrall, Mary Steenburgen, Denise Richards and, of course, Ralphie a.k.a. Peter Billingsley recalling their days on Clark’s movie sets.

Abram first met Clark while working as a production designer for one of the director’s projects. But Abram longed to produce and direct his own films, something Clark was more than eager to support.

They were knee deep in a joint project when the 67-year-old Clark and his 22-year-old son, Ariel, were killed in a car crash.

The accident left Abram stunned.

“I couldn’t focus on anything. I had to put my soul into something,” he says.

The executor of Clark’s estate suggested a film tribute to the late director, and Abram figured it was an appropriate way to say goodbye to an old friend.

“The funding didn’t happen, but we went ahead anyway,” he says of the low-budget labor of love.

Tomorrow: Abram tells why most of the “Porky’s” cast refused to appear in “ClarkWORLD” and how Clark’s approached shaped the way he looks at making movies.

(Photo: Top Left: Director Deren Abram. Bottom right: Bob Clark accepts the Genie Award for “Murder by Decree.”)

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