Lance Hool

Lance Hool is a Mexican film director, film producer, and actor. He directed the action films Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) and Steel Dawn (1987), the war film One Man's Hero (1999), and the romantic drama film 2 Hearts (2020). He also founded the Santa Fe-based film studio Santa Fe Studios in 2011.

Hool was born in Mexico^[1] and grew up in Mexico City in a family largely involved in the film industry. According to him, his great-grandfather worked as a financier for Charlie Chaplin.^[2] Hool and his brother were childhood friends of Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011.^[3]

Hool attended the Universidad de las Américas Puebla, graduating with a B.A. and an M.B.A.^[4][5]

Hool made his acting debut in the Howard Hawks film Rio Lobo, which was released in 1970 and was Hawks's last film before his death.^[6] He worked in the Mexican film industry for 20 years,^[7] and was the US representative for the Mexican national film distribution company Pelmex between 1977 and 1980.^[8]

He produced the thriller films Wolf Lake (1978), 10 to Midnight (1983), and The Evil That Men Do (1984), the adventure film Flipper (1996), and the comedy films Pure Luck (1991) with Sean Daniel and McHale's Navy (1997).^{[9][10][1][11][12][13]} Hool directed the Chuck Norris–starring action film Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, which was released in 1985.^[14] He also directed the 1987 science fiction action film Steel Dawn. It starred Patrick Swayze and was produced by Hool with his brother, Conrad Hool. Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote, "Steel Dawn, ... has been directed by Lance Hool to emphasize Mr. Swayze's biceps," and Los Angeles Times critic Michael Wilmington wrote, "Hool directs all this so lethargically you might suspect he's gone missing in action himself."^[15][16] Hool directed and produced the historical war film One Man's Hero, about John Riley and the Saint Patrick's Battalion's role in the Mexican–American War, which was released in 1999.^[13] Hool cast his sons Brett and Jason in the film.^[17] For the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas wrote in a review of the film that it was "directed with vigor and passion by Hool", while Paul Cullum of LA Weekly called his direction "flaccid".^[18][7] Hool then executive produced the Simon Wincer film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) and the Tony Scott film Man on Fire (2004).^[19][6]

Lance founded the Santa Fe–based film studio Santa Fe Studios in October 2011, where his son, Jason, was hired as president.^[20][6] It became New Mexico's second-largest film studio, following Albuquerque Studios.^[21] Negotiations to open the studio had taken place the year before, when, in an attempt to increase economic growth in Santa Fe, Richardson offered Hool a ten-million-dollar economic development grant to build the studio south of the city, while then–chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico structured the studio's land and financing package.^[11] The project was considered controversial among residents of Santa Fe due to Hool's early ties to Richardson. Hool and his associates were sued by attorneys for Santa Fe County for the studio's unpaid debt of over $2.3 million in 2016.^[3]

Hool directed the romantic drama film 2 Hearts, inspired by the story of Leslie and Jorge Bacardi of the Bacardi family after Hool's brother, Conrad, met Jorge on a cruise. It was co-written by Robin U. Russin with Hool's daughter, Veronica, and co-produced by Hool with Conrad with a score by Hool's son, Brett, and casting direction by his niece, Caral.^[22] The film finished principal photography in July 2018. It was released in theaters in October 2020 and distributed by Freestyle Releasing.^[2] After being released onto Netflix, the film became the platform's most-watched film for a week in 2021.^[23]