Lawrence Kasdan explains why his documentary “Marty, Life Is Short” needed Martin Short’s blessing—then opens up about making a film that mixes childhood footage, Hollywood legends at Sag Harbor getaways, and the tragedies that shaped Short’s life.
When Lawrence Kasdan says he wanted “Light & Magic” to feel a certain way, he doesn’t reach for a pitch deck. He reaches for a person—Martin Short.
Kasdan made the case to collaborators at Imagine Documentaries. telling IndieWire that the “spirit” he wanted wasn’t “naturally there. ” and that it needed to be “much more ebullient and fun and unpredictable.” To explain it. he said. “I want it to feel like what it’s like when you hang around with Marty Short.”.
That instinct—capturing Short’s energy in a way that can’t be faked—runs through Kasdan’s new Netflix documentary, “Marty, Life Is Short.” It’s a clear-eyed look at Short’s life and career, but it’s also, in Kasdan’s telling, about friendship that survives triumphs and tragedy.
Kasdan and Short have been friends for over 30 years. ever since they collaborated on the 1987 comedy “Cross My Heart. ” which Kasdan produced. “We immediately hit it off, became friends, and it never stopped after that,” Kasdan said. “Marty. Life Is Short” leans into that long bond. using it as the emotional throughline for everything from archival material to conversations that let people loosen up.
The documentary’s home movie footage is one of its biggest delights for cinephiles. Kasdan recalls Short’s star-studded gatherings at his vacation home. including visits from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. as well as Kasdan himself. The guest list also includes old SCTV colleagues Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.
“It seems like a fairy tale,” Kasdan said, looking back at those get-togethers at Short’s Sag Harbor house. “Everybody came to visit him, because it’s just fun being around Marty.”
Kasdan’s connection to Spielberg runs deeper than guest lists, too. He met Spielberg years before when they worked together on “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” After years of struggle. Kasdan had sold his screenplays for “The Bodyguard” and “Continental Divide”—the latter of which impressed Spielberg and led Spielberg to hire Kasdan for “Raiders.” That decision then led George Lucas. “Raiders” producer George Lucas. to hire Kasdan to finish the script for “The Empire Strikes Back” after original writer Leigh Brackett passed away.
When Kasdan talks about Short, he’s careful to keep the relationships distinct. “Marty was not related to those people when I met him,” he said. “It turns out they all became close friends, but my relationship with Marty was separate from that.”
Even so, making a documentary about his friend wasn’t something Kasdan rushed into. He went back and forth on whether he should even try. saying he ultimately became convinced he was the right person to do it—but he needed to know Short “really wanted it.” Short had been approached many times and was “wary. ” Kasdan said. “He’s a private person.”.
In the end. Short gave his blessing and supplied hundreds of hours of home movie and video footage stretching back to when he was seven years old. Kasdan described it as historical material he’d never dreamed of having—material that came from Short. his father. and his brothers. “When Marty said. ‘I’ll let you use everything. ’ that seemed like the greatest invitation in the world. and I couldn’t say no. ” Kasdan said.
The footage matters. But Kasdan is equally proud of how the interviews are handled—his slow. patient method of getting people to reveal themselves. “My technique is a slow unpeeling of people’s layers,” Kasdan said. “I’ve always believed that if you are really interested in people, they will open up. And not only will they open up. it will release the great pressure they’ve had their whole life to have someone listen to them.”.
That approach fits the kind of storytelling Kasdan has long favored in fiction: characters who hide and reveal themselves. and stories that keep returning to what it means to be seen. “What we look for in life is someone who sees us and hears us. and it’s relatively rare. ” Kasdan said. “Some of it is that people are shy. another thing is that people protect their privacy. and another thing is that no one asks. That’s bothered me my whole life.”.
Long before documentary work, Kasdan built a reputation around follow-up questions. He said people would frequently tell him, “What are you, a reporter?” and that they “just didn’t understand why I always had follow-up questions to their life.” For him, it was “really irresistible.”
That curiosity is one reason he found “Light and Magic” stimulating, and why it felt different from script-based filmmaking. “Making ‘Light and Magic’ was so stimulating to me after years of following a script and having preconceived ideas. ” Kasdan said. “The stories people would tell were so exciting and unexpected, better than anything I had been writing for 40 years.”.
This year also marks a milestone for Kasdan’s film history: it’s the 45th anniversary of “Body Heat,” which is newly available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Criterion, with supplementary features including a new interview with Kasdan.
Kasdan’s reflections on that era come with a vivid sense of what it felt like to have big movies competing for attention. In the fall of 1981. he had three major movies in theaters at the same time: “Body Heat. ” “Raiders of the Lost Ark. ” and “Continental Divide. ” Michael Apted directed from Kasdan’s script. Kasdan said it was “insane,” adding that his friends “really feel we were born at the right time.”.
“Hollywood felt like a very small town,” he said. “Now it doesn’t feel like a town at all — they’re making things all over the world. Some of them are fantastic, but there are a thousand new movies a week, it seems. During that period, if you could get a movie going, it was a big deal, and people were paying attention. It was a very rich, wonderful time, and we didn’t know how quickly it was going to go away.”.
His friendship with Short deepened during another moment in cinematic history. When Kasdan first worked with Short in 1987. he was coming off “Body Heat. ” “The Big Chill. ” and “Silverado. ” on his way to “The Accidental Tourist.” They reunited with “Mumford” over 10 years later—more successful artistically (if not commercially) than the 1987 project that first bonded them.
“‘Cross My Heart’ was a difficult experience,” Kasdan said. “I had promoted it to Marty because because the script was really funny, and I believed in the director — maybe too much. I convinced Marty to do it and then when it started shooting it didn’t go very well, and I felt terrible.”
Despite that, Kasdan said what kept him friends with Short for so long is admiration for Short’s “spirit.” “Despite many tragedies, when you get around him you feel good.”
That’s also where the documentary’s emotional weight sits. “Marty. Life Is Short” delves into one of the central tragedies of Short’s life: the death of his beloved wife Nancy Dolman. Two other tragedies are referenced only in the final dedication—“the unexpected death of Short’s friend Catherine O’Hara” and “the suicide of his daughter Katherine.”.
Kasdan discussed O’Hara’s loss directly, connecting it to the shock of seeing a core presence vanish. “We were cutting. and first there was the Reiner tragedy. ” Kasdan said. referring to the murders of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. Then, he said, “Catherine O’Hara, who had been in my kids’ movies and my movies, who was a genius. No one in my group knew she was sick. and all of a sudden she was gone and everyone working on the movie was devastated. She was so central to the movie, and she’s such a lovely presence.”.
When Short’s daughter died at the age of 42, Kasdan said he had to talk with his friend about whether it was even the right time to release the film.
“Katherine had been a huge resource for us because she had possession of an enormous amount of the archive. ” Kasdan said. “She had been a better archivist of the photos than Marty had been. and she was lovely and couldn’t have been more cooperative. When this tragedy happened. I couldn’t believe it. and I said to Marty. ‘We don’t have to release this movie now. Do you want to think about this and just take some time?’”.
Kasdan said Short’s response reflected how the film itself is shaped—by refusing to retreat. “In the movie there are horrible things have happened to him. and they can knock him down but his instinct is toward life. ” Kasdan said. “When I asked him. he said. ‘I think this movie’s about not retreating from it.’ And he was absolutely right.”.
“Marty, Life Is Short” is now streaming on Netflix.
“Body Heat” is newly available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Criterion.
‘Marty, Life Is Short’©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
‘Body Heat’©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Lawrence Kasdan Martin Short Marty Life Is Short Netflix Light & Magic Imagine Documentaries Raiders of the Lost Ark Body Heat Criterion Sag Harbor Catherine O’Hara Eugene Levy Nancy Dolman Katherine Rob Reiner Michele Reiner George Lucas Leigh Brackett