Source: AfroTech
Star of hit show black-ish, Marsai Martin has leveraged her success, name, and finances as an actress and has used it to form her own production company, Genius Entertainment. All while still being under 18 years old. She is the youngest executive producer in Hollywood. She produces a Disney Channel series currently in production called Saturdays, and runs Genius Entertainment with her parents, who are co-owners. Marsai's approach to producing is rather progressive in terms of representation. During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Marsai has stated she has a "no Black pain" rule as a producer, which is simply that she will not take on projects that revolve around Black pain and trauma, as that is not "who I am" and the narrative of Black pain films and shows is something she wants to diversify and distance from. black-ish, is one such show, offering healthy levels of critique, conversation and satire, finding the humor in the modern Black American experience.
So far, Marsai's production company has taken on a single-camera comedy series recently picked up by Disney Channel, called Saturdays. One of the initial projects Genius Productions created was the 2019 film, Little. The film is a "body swap" comedy, where a strict, powerful CEO (Regina Hall) is turned back into her 13-year old self, (Marsai Martin), and has to continue to run the company through her second-in-command, April (Issa Rae). Hilarity ensues.
As black-ish's eight season run comes to an end, Marsai has already proven that she's well on her way to bigger things. Her story and continued work proves that Hollywood's old dynamics are changing, and that fresh faces and perspectives will ultimately be an evolution for our media.
Written by Max Olarinde, @mobeige1 on all social media.
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