When husband and wife duo Aaron and Jency Griffin Hogan wrote and produced the independent romantic comedy Days of Daisy, it was important to them to show audiences the beauty of both Baton Rouge and unconventional romances.
Described by Jency as Bridget Jones’ Diary meets School of Rock, the film loosely tells the story of how the pair fell in love. Directed by Alexander Jeffery, it follows Daisy, a librarian played by Jency. Approaching 40 and yearning for children, she falls in love with a fictionalized version of her husband: a photographer named Jack, who doesn’t want kids.
Jency, who previously acted in 2013’s Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club, took inspiration from Greta Gerwig’s performance in Frances Ha. She was willing to be vulnerable and sometimes play the fool in portraying the “lovely side of being in your 40s,” Aaron says.
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The film premiered this past summer in Hollywood at the Mann Theater during the Dances with Films festival, before debuting in Baton Rouge at the Manship Theatre. The film has since screened at the Heartland Film Festival in Indiana and is being shopped around to streaming services to premiere in February or March.
Both originally from Baton Rouge, with Jency recently returning after a stint in Los Angeles pursuing acting, the couple says they wanted to use Days of Daisy as an opportunity to showcase the charms of Baton Rouge. That began with shooting on location in places instantly recognizable to locals. One of the main locations in the film is McKinley Middle School, acting as the fictional West High School where Daisy works as a librarian.
Additionally, one of the most pivotal scenes in the film, the couple’s first date, is set in Highland Coffees, just off LSU’s campus. The film also employs local talent, notably Maddie Nichols, who previously starred in Jumanji: The Next Level and Emergency.
“We want to be known as some of the greatest producers, cinematographers and directors coming out of Baton Rouge. That’s our dream,” Jency says. “It’s going to be a Baton Rouge darling and represents Baton Rouge.”
The film’s romance and specific conversations about the nature of running out of time are lifted from reality, but a lot of the script, while inspired by reality, is fictional.
The core of the film, the couple explains, is the relationship between Daisy, Jack and the high school students they take under their wing to help save their school’s art program. While they don’t have kids of their own, Aaron and Jency wanted to show that mentorship of children is just as valid as parenthood.
WHAT THEY DO
[Jency Hogan is an actor and also runs Love Acting studio, and Aaron Hogan runs local photo and video studio Eye Wander Photo. The creative couple combined their talents to produce Days of Daisy.]
That mirrors what Aaron and Jency are doing with their mixed-use, two-story studio on Goodwood Boulevard, housing both Jency’s Love Acting studio and Aaron’s Eye Wander Photo. The space regularly hosts acting classes for all ages and various photoshoots and creative projects. Aaron thinks of the space, whose third floor is the couple’s residence, as a “creative hub for Baton Rouge.”
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Ironically, through the process of making the film with his wife and watching the finished product, Aaron says he had a change of heart when it comes to parenthood and the couple is now planning to have kids.
“I feel the arts are like that,” Jency says. “They affect us—and that’s why we make them.”
This article was originally published in the February 2023 issue of 225 magazine.