Netflix Picks Up Martin Short Documentary
Martin Short is a comedian whose very prolific career now spans over fifty years and counting. He’s done Broadway, he’s a sketch-comedy veteran of “Second City Television” and “Saturday Night Live,” and his filmography includes such diverse comedy flicks as “Three Fugitives,” “Father of the Bride,” “Mars Attacks!,” and “Jungle 2 Jungle.” (Oh, and your kids may know his voice from “The Prince of Egypt” and “Madagascar 3.”) Now, Netflix will be chronicling his long and fruitful professional life in an upcoming documentary.
“Marty, Life Is Short”
This documentary, titled “Marty, Life Is Short,” will be directed by a filmmaker whose pedigree goes back nearly as far as Short’s: Lawrence Kasdan, whose feature-film directorial credits include “Body Heat” (1981), “The Big Chill” (1983), “Accidental Tourist” (1988), and the 1999 dramedy “Mumford,” which featured Short in a supporting role. He also wrote the screenplay for what is arguably cinema’s most revered adventure film – Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) – as well as co-writing four “Star Wars” films, including “The Force Awakens” (2015) and the acclaimed “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980).
Kasdan’s history in documentary filmmaking is far less extensive than this awesome resume: he has co-directed (with his wife, Meg Kasdan) the very personal 2019 documentary short “Last Week at Ed’s,” about the final week before the closure of Ed’s Coffee Shop, a West Hollywood diner beloved by him and his wife. He also directed six episodes of a documentary series titled “Light & Magic” (2022-), about the visual-effects studio ILM – another business of great significance to him, considering its importance to the “Star Wars” franchise.
The producers of the documentary are Sara Bernstein (“The Crash Reel,” “Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief”), Meredith Kaulfers (“Light & Magic,” “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?”), actor Christopher St. John, Justin Wilkes (“Pets”), Blair Foster (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “History of the Eagles”), and Kasdan himself. A Jan. 20 Tudum article states that it will feature “never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive interviews with a star-studded list of friends and collaborators to tell Short’s story.”
A Martin Short Documentary: Some Things to Expect
Life may be too brief for all of us, but the “Marty” of the title has certainly made the most of his five-decade-long career – and he continues to do so today. Since 2021, he’s played a leading role in the Hulu mystery dramedy “Only Murders in the Building,” alongside Steve Martin, a fellow comedian with whom he began touring nationally in 2015. Another collaboration between Martin and Short, a 2018 Netflix-distributed comedy show gloriously titled “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life,” received four Emmy Award nominations. “Only Murders in the Building” has been nominated for a total of 17 Primetime Emmy Awards, and Short has received nods for his performance every year since 2022.
Now 75 years old, Short has stated that he has no intention of retiring. In a Hollywood Reporter article from June of last year, he asserted that he was “not a believer in retirement just based on a number. It’s designed for people who don’t really like their job and then they want to relax or they’re tired or they just want to do something else. But I like my job.”
In short, we can expect “Marty, Life Is Short” to provide plenty of screen time to Steve Martin, and to showcase its star’s extremely affirming attitude towards the business he chose more than half a century ago. Short is one of the most accomplished comedians working today, and this documentary should provide an uncommonly deep and detailed portrait of the inspirational example that he has set.
“Marty, Life Is Short” will premiere on Netflix on May 12.
