Female power helps drive new movie 'Little' to big laughs

HOLLYWOOD (KABC) -- The new movie "Little" tells the story of Jordan Sanders, a tech savvy nightmare of a boss, played by Regina Hall.

After experiencing a little bit of magic, she wakes up in the body of her teenage self. The younger woman is played by "Black-ish" star Marsai Martin, who also happens to be an executive producer on the film.

"Little" was directed by Tina Gordon and written by Tracy Oliver. Issa Rae, who co-stars as the personal assistant to both "sizes" of Jordan Sanders, said she loved seeing all this female power in motion.

"It's so important, you know. I'm shooting, like, my fourth movie now and you realize how special it is to have just female empowerment behind the scenes, there's just a different vibe," said Rae. "And there's, I don't know, there's a sense of nurturing. I love being in nurturing environments and collaborative environments. It really does spoil me! You don't realize how, I'm taking it for granted and I hope that it just becomes kind of the norm."

Martin is someone who has pledged to help make this "become the norm." As the smart and sassy daughter, Diane, on the hit sitcom "Black-ish," Martin has made a mark in Hollywood. But she wasn't content to just act. So at just 14 years old, she co-founded her own company, "Genius Productions."

Rae said looking back at her own 14-year-old self was a very different picture.

"Driven and focused, absolutely not!" laughed Rae. "Hopeful, optimistic, I was trying to write but I wasn't really finishing projects. But she, Marsai, is really just the gold standard in terms of, you can't make any excuses anymore. And that's what makes me so proud to be a part of this, that young girls, young black girls, are going to see her and say, 'Oh she did it, this means I can do it too!'"

"Little" is in theaters now.