Bunny

Inside the Bunny Hutch: The Messy, Cozy, Totally Wild Real-Life Story Behind Bunny (2025)

If you thought hiding a corpse in an East Village walk-up was chaotic, wait till you meet the real people who made Bunny. This scrappy, $2.6 million NYC indie was stitched together out of best-friend loyalties, family ties, nepo-baby whispers and at least one very angry neighbor. Buckle up: the tea is homemade, but it’s boiling hot.

On-Set Drama (Tenement Edition)

The Neighbor Who Lost It on the Crew

Forget diva actors—the real meltdown reportedly came from a neighbor. While shooting in the actual East Village building where star/co-writer Mo Stark lives, a resident who’d inspired Richard Price’s needy-neighbor character allegedly walked by during filming and started yelling at the crew for being in his way, in classic “New York guy late for something” fashion . Zero trailers, all tension.

A Sweltering Month in a Fifth-Floor Walk-Up

This wasn’t a cushy soundstage: the film was shot over a “sweltering month” in 2024 in a real fifth-floor walk-up at 219 Avenue A, with the building itself turned into the set . Cast and crew were hauling gear up narrow stairwells in full summer grossness—no wonder everyone in the movie looks like they’re about to snap.

“Piece of Crap, But It Has Character”

The filmmakers straight-up described the building as a “piece of crap, but it has character” ^[4]. Translation: questionable wiring, thin walls, and the constant risk of an actual NYPD noise complaint. Perfect vibe for a movie about hiding a body.

Cast Feuds & Tea (Or, Actually, One Big Hangout)

Director + Star = Real-Life Besties

Director Ben Jacobson and lead actor Mo Stark aren’t just playing best friends on screen; they’re real-life best friends who co-wrote the movie with Stefan Marolachakis ^[4]. Reviews even note how the film “hinges on the camaraderie of neighbors” and the chemistry of its central duo . Far from feuding, this is more “two dudes finally quit bartending and make a movie together” energy.

The Neighbor Ensemble Is… Their Actual Neighbors

Many of those gloriously weird building residents? They’re literally the filmmakers’ friends and neighbors, drafted into the cast to keep the vibe authentic (and the budget under control) ^[4]. That chaotic party you see on screen is basically a real East Village hang with cameras pointed at it.

Romance Rumors (That Aren’t Rumors At All)

On-Screen Couple, Off-Screen Marriage

Bunny and his wife Bobbie are played by Mo Stark and Liza Colby, who are married in real life ^[4][10]. Their actual apartment doubles as Bunny’s on-screen home, meaning half the movie is basically shot in their real domestic chaos. No chemistry coaching required.

The Orthodox Neighbor With a Very Literary Dad

The Orthodox Jewish woman who ends up staying in Bunny’s apartment is played by Genevieve Hudson-Price—who is married to co-writer Stefan Marolachakis and is the daughter of famed novelist/screenwriter Richard Price ^[4]. So yes, one of the movie’s most memorable neighbors is literally the writer’s wife, playing a character in the building where his friends live.

Scandals & Controversies (Light on Scandal, Heavy on Nepo Talk)

“Nepo Baby” Side-Eye at Sarah Sarandos

The film’s lead producer, Sarah Sarandos, is the daughter of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos . Trade pieces emphasize her role and lineage, making it impossible for the internet not to side-eye the deal. A widely shared Facebook post about Netflix projects being overrun by “nepotism” and viewers being “so tired of nepotism” was pointed at newer comedies and nepo-heavy casts . While Bunny isn’t named there, Sarah’s surname and a proud-dad Instagram post from Ted—“Sarah’s movie Bunny is coming to theaters on November 14th” ^[3]—did nothing to calm the discourse.

From Bartender to “It” Indie Director

Gossip around the film loves the “glow-up” hook: Jacobson had been bartending for about 15 years before finally quitting in April 2025 and rolling cameras that June ^[4]. Critics frame Bunny as a rowdy “downtown Manhattan caper” made by a guy who literally just stepped away from the bar ^[7]. Not quite a scandal, but definitely the kind of backstory that makes other struggling creatives quietly rage.

Wild Trivia & Morbid Little Secrets

The Dead Body in the Suitcase? That’s a Contortionist.

For the gag where a suitcase containing a corpse gets kicked down the stairs, the team hired a contortionist to actually cram inside the luggage ^[4]. In one take, they unzipped the bag and an arm flopped out at a weird angle—everyone cracked up, and they decided to keep the bit. What started as a practical stunt turned into one of the movie’s sickest jokes.

Eric Roth: Academy Award Winner, Professional Bed Goblin

The Hollywood Reporter gleefully points out that Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth spends the entire movie lying on a bed watching reruns of Kung Fu as a neighbor ^[5]. This is the guy who wrote Forrest Gump and Dune… now cameoing as the laziest man in the East Village.

Richard Price, Human Easter Egg

Not to be outdone, Richard Price—legendary crime novelist and screenwriter—shows up as a needy neighbor, with the New York Times flatly name-checking his cameo ^[10]. Given that one cranky neighbor he’s allegedly based on yelled at the crew mid-shoot ^[4], it’s basically meta performance art.

Shoestring Budget, Big Festival Flex

The whole madcap enterprise reportedly cost about $2.6 million ^[10]. From that, they squeezed a SXSW world premiere, a Tribeca slot, and a global distribution deal with Vertical for the English-speaking world ^[2]. Not bad for three East Village buddies, their spouses, their neighbors, and a contortionist in a suitcase.

If Bunny feels like you’ve stumbled into a real building full of real messy lives, that’s because you basically have. It’s not a movie built on A-list scandals or blockbuster feuds—but on roommate-level drama, nepo-adjacent producing, and the kind of DIY chaos only a fifth-floor walk-up can provide.