‘Father of the Bride,’ the Pandemic and Me

My children say I’m a person who needs a project. Unable to see friends and staying socially distant from my kids and grandkids, I made my home my project. I became a dedicated house cleaner. In May, after two months of mopping, wiping, washing, disinfecting and endlessly buying new cleaning tools on Amazon, I knew I couldn’t go on like this. I needed an escape. I needed to go back to work.

I recognized how lucky I was to be able to stay home while others couldn’t. On the news, there were families waiting in line for food in 2020 America. It was heartbreaking. What could I do? What can I do? I wondered. That’s when I emailed Steve Martin and asked him if he had time to chat. He wrote back, “I have nothing but time.”

I told Steve I had an idea to write a short Part 3 to “Father of the Bride,” a movie my former partner, Charles Shyer, and I had made with Steve nearly 30 years ago (followed by a sequel, “Father of the Bride Part II”). Steve played the title role of a father who resisted letting go of his daughter and misplaced all of those difficult emotions into fighting the cost and hullabaloo that goes into making a wedding. At least, that’s how I always saw it. I told Steve I thought his character, George Banks, a self-admitted overreactor, was ripe to revisit during the pandemic. I explained I’d like to make the film as a fund-raiser for World Central Kitchen to help those who were struggling.

I said all the actors would shoot from home, and I would direct from my computer and we’d get it online somehow. At the time, I wasn’t sure how to do any of that, but I asked Steve if I could figure it out, would he do it? Without hesitation he said yes. So did Martin Short, Diane Keaton and the rest of the cast.

I hadn’t written the “Father of the Bride” characters in decades. I was a little nervous. I watched both movies, made some notes and got that excited feeling in my stomach that I hadn’t felt in a long time.