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Scott Lazer was just an aspiring filmmaker andJ.
Colefan when he went to see him perform in Charlotte in 2013.
Now, the 29-year-old works as Dreamvilles in-house filmmaker, where he produces and directs.
Increasingly, though, hes sharing the directors chair with Cole himself.
We spoke to Lazer about the making of Kevins Heart.
I had shot him riding his bike around Manhattan.
I thought maybe that could work.
So, we just cut in one shot of him riding his bike around the city.
It felt like the right tone.
And we cut that video in like 30 minutes.
He is a visual artist and Ive gained filmmaking insight from him.
People have told me one of my signatures is really long shots and I totally got that from him.
He said:You should trust your shots.
I was like:Trust your shots?
Youre a rapper, bro.But it was pretty eye-opening.
I thought that was a great idea but it wasnt a story.
We wanted it to be very cinematic.
And then we did that one too; we did em both at the same time.
and then Kevins Heart.
Either youre the pariah or the messiah … Or seem to have.
But still he was subject to
Ridicule.Yeah.
So, that was kind of the thinking for the video.
He has no problem saying what he thinks, especially about creative stuff.
Theres a quality that I always appreciate in people and that is reasonableness, and he is very reasonable.
Hes very capable of understanding different sides of arguments.
Even when hes on one side of an argument and someones on the other side of an argument.
I think what that comes from is an ability to empathize.
But Kevin was great.
From the moment I saw him he was just, like, down.
Its meant to be weighty, but its Kevin Hart so theres going to be comedy in it.
That dominated the conversation.
We didnt want it to look like, Poor Kevin, his life is so hard.
And its not meant to do that.
I think thats why I tried to conceptualize it in my head that its not about him necessarily.
So, he was just a really great candidate.
A character to make that point.Yeah, because he had that experience.
But we didnt want it to look like we were trying to have a pity party for Kevin Hart.
Did Kevin say anything about that?Not to me.
He may have said something to Cole, but he didnt say anything to me.
From the moment I first talked to him, he was into it.
There were a lot of concerns about that.
But at the same time I was excited by the fact that this could be very controversial.
What about Coles cameo?He makes a Hitchcock cameo.
