Jency Hogan Reviews: Frances Ha! / explains the impact of Greta Gerwig on her life

When Frances Ha, directed by Greta Gerwig, came out in theaters, I was ecstatic to see it. I ran out to see it opening night in theaters back in 2012. I actually saw in theaters five times, taking different friends to see it. Greta and her husband Noah Baumbach had teamed up to make this movie that was so organic and so real that it left me inspired and really changed my life. I, for the first time, had a strong feeling that I could star in a movie after watching her quirky, weird, imperfect performance. In the movie she’s a wannabe dancer, which I can relate to as I wanted to always dance professionally. The character Frances was really endearing to me. I loved how she randomly went to Paris for one sole night. Or the scene of her free-spirited skipping and jumping to David Bowie down the NYC streets. It all reminded me what it felt like to be excited creatively. To be in love, too. Aaron and I worked together in the film industry, as did Greta and Noah— they inspired us to make movies together. I made my first movie in 2012.

My life completely changed after seeing this movie: I became a director-producer-actress. Once I realized women were allowed to do more, I jumped on board. Now she’s world famous, but I want to say that I was a fan before all the success of Little Women, Barbie. When I found out she was directing Little Women, one of my favorite movies from 1994, I could not believe that she also had my same passion for period drama! When it came out it was so creatively done and edited. I watched it more than five times. The colors were so rich. The girls were so well cast. The multi-Oscar nominated Lady Bird was a huge inspiration for us in making our first feature, Days of Daisy, because of the mother-daughter relationship and the societal pressures of being a female today.

Watching Greta’s career unfold with her newfound success in the Barbie movie has set the stage for all female directors in all of the industry to become recognized and acknowledged as having the ability to take names and make money. I cannot wait for her TV version of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors. Once again she surprises me with her choices in content. I can’t say enough about this brilliant human. Thanks Greta, for leading the way for all actresses who always wanted to get behind the camera and make their stories come alive. It’s showing us that you can do both.