I sat down with writer John Kinnane and executive producer Jeffrey Azize, some of the creative minds behind the new romantic comedy “Solo Mio” starring Kevin James, for my very first press junket. What followed was a candid, insightful conversation. These are men who’ve built something together, and it shows in every word they say.
McAuley Tucker: I have noticed, at least in watching your projects, that more and more Kevin begins to be playing different roles that you could say are more vulnerable. Are you intentionally trying to reveal a side of him that maybe audiences haven’t seen before?
Jeffrey Azize: It was when we were in lockdown with Kevin in his garage making YouTube shorts during the pandemic. We just started having fun. We just experimented creatively together … he really wanted to just have more of a balance than the physical humour that he’s known for and to kind of broaden his horizons … and then him really enjoying that, knowing that it’s working and people were receptive, was able to really translate over to the feature length.
McAuley Tucker: With this project in particular, big or small, what was something that you took away from the experience that even now you’ve kind of applied, or you had no experience with beforehand?
Jeffrey Azize: The language barrier being one of them …
John Kinnane: Nicole Grimaudo, who plays Gia, she didn’t speak much English at all. So we had to work with a translator on set … she had to learn her English lines phonetically … we were going to try and tweak a couple of the lines and she was very passionate about trying to execute Gia … we were always reminding her, don’t worry about it, we want the language barrier thing. And she kind of got really nervous ‘cause we changed the lines … all right, we’re not going to change any more dialogue and just let her do her thing. And she’s just phenomenal in the movie.
McAuley Tucker: When you guys are working on a film, you’re in the editing room and you want to cut a scene that one of you perhaps wrote, do you ever have to separate ‘brother’ from ‘collaborator’?
Jeffrey Azize: We’ve definitely been in situations like that where someone is more passionate about keeping something and the majority is saying, listen, it just doesn’t work. And again, best idea wins … you got to kill your darlings, as Sorkin says. If it’s not pushing the story forward, if it feels like a modular scene, if it’s just a scene for the sake of being a scene, you’re not learning anything new or doing anything to build a world, then it’s like, why is it in there? … you’re watching a movie to be entertained and to feel something. And if you’re not accomplishing that, then what is the purpose of it? …
McAuley Tucker: It’s a teamwork environment. It’s a we, our, us environment. Someone told me that a long time ago. Those environments are the best environments, where you work together as a team, you go through the messy stuff, and then in the end, the project comes out.
Consider watching Solo Mio Today.