Ron Jackson lives in Little Italy and decided the best way to make a movie was to center all the action in his own condo.
Jackson remembers going to the movies as a kid with his dad.
"We would go every Saturday to the Village Theater, and I would go to a matinee for 25 cents," Jackson said. "And that feeling of being in that dark room and being transported to another place, another time, whether it was adventure or whatever, just never left me. Watching a great story just never went away. And I really wanted to be part of that."
He was inspired by the relationship of Nick and Nora Charles in the old "Thin Man" movies.
"It's just a lovely study in two people, man and wife, [actors] Myrna Loy and William Powell, who are in love with each other," Jackson said. "They have quick banter, they drink a lot, they have fun. They've got some crazy friends. And I always wanted to do a movie that could pick up that kind of energy."
He was also inspired by by the comedy style of George Burns and Gracie Allen.
"In their TV program, [Burns] would walk out and he would break the fourth wall and then walk into the story," Jackson said.
But how could Jackson turn his love for these vintage shows and movies into something that could play for a contemporary audience?
Jackson’s solution was to create a witty married couple who decide to employ the modern technology of streaming and break the fourth wall by turning to the camera in their living room and addressing the audience.
The plan is to make a little money streaming since Nick's career as a writer and Lana's career as an actor are coming up a bit short at the moment. But, when a neighbor they invited for dinner gets shot, their streaming content takes a surprising turn.
In the film, Nick proposes: "I have an idea. We invite everybody over on the floor, one by one, and we give them drinks and we loosen them up."
The result is "Murder and Cocktails," a film Jackson produced for an amazing $75,000.
"It was largely filmed in my condo," Jackson said. "We have this little area here, which we call the lounge. And the couple, Nick and Lana, usually sit in these two chairs. On-screen, I've noticed that the lounge looks a lot bigger than it actually is. The way this got done was really by kind of shrinking down the footprint."
Jackson’s condo provides plenty of room for Nick and Lana to host "Murder and Cocktails." So pour yourself a martini and get ready to figure out whodunit when the film starts streaming next month. Look for it on platforms such as Prime Video, Apple and Google Play.
And, just for fun, check out the video below to see the story I did on Jackson 10 years ago for his film "Five Hour Friends," starring Tom Sizemore.
