Award-Winning Filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan Earns Double Emmy Nominations

Award-winning filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan has added a new column to his remarkable resume: double Emmy nominee. The esteemed director, known for his work on films such as ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘Grand Canyon,’ has earned a nomination for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special for his documentary ‘Marty, Life Is Short,’ which explores the life and career of his long-time friend, actor Martin Short.

‘Marty, Life Is Short’ is a poignant and intimate look at Short’s life, from his early days as a young actor to his current success with Netflix’s ‘Only Murders in the Building.’ The documentary delves into the highs and lows of Short’s personal and professional life, including the loss of his older brother in a car crash, the death of his beloved wife, actress Nancy Dolman, and his current role as Oliver Putnam in ‘Only Murders in the Building.’

Kasdan’s documentary has earned widespread critical acclaim, with many praising his thoughtful and nuanced portrayal of his friend. The film has also earned a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Special, as well as a nod for editors Sierra Neal and Bennett Piscitelli.

‘It’s great,’ Kasdan said of the Emmy recognition. ‘It’s nothing I was thinking about [while] trying to make this movie as good as we could. I was trying to honor my commitments to my friend and be fair about everything. But it’s lovely [with] any movie when you finish and people come up to you and they say, ‘I really liked that’ or ‘I was so taken by this or that.’ And we’ve gotten a lot of that.’

Kasdan’s four Academy Award nominations have come for ‘Grand Canyon’ (Original Screenplay), ‘The Accidental Tourist’ (Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay), and ‘The Big Chill’ (Original Screenplay). The latter film, a cultural landmark released in 1983, starred Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Tom Berenger, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, JoBeth Williams, and Jeff Goldblum. Kevin Costner shot many scenes for the film, as part of flashback sequences that Kasdan later decided to drop to keep the story in the present tense.

‘Kevin, when I cut him — and it crushed me to cut him — he was just beginning his career. It was one of his second, third parts,’ Kasdan recalled. ‘And I called him up and he came in and I said, ‘Look, I got some bad news.’ And he said, ‘That’s okay, Larry.’ The rehearsal process we had done, which was four weeks, just the cast rehearsing — at that time that never done in the movies. And [Kevin] said, ‘For four weeks I got to hang around with this cast. I’m just learning how to do this. It was the best education I could possibly have had. It doesn’t matter whether I’m in the movie or not, it was the greatest.’

That part – the role of young gunslinger Jake in 1985’s ‘Silverado’ – would launch Costner to fame. ‘Silverado’ starred two other actors Kasdan had worked with on ‘The Big Chill,’ Kline and Goldblum. Kasdan’s 1988 film ‘The Accidental Tourist’ starred William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Geena Davis, and earned Davis the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

‘She was amazing in that movie, and I tested four women for that part,’ Kasdan revealed. ‘She just walked away with it. She’s so fantastic. And I knew her before casually because she had been with Jeff Goldblum, who I knew very well.’

Kasdan’s documentary ‘Marty, Life Is Short’ is a testament to his skill as a director and his ability to craft compelling stories about his friends and colleagues. With his double Emmy nomination, Kasdan joins an elite group of filmmakers who have been recognized for their work by the Academy and the Emmy Awards.