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Lance Hool is a film producer with a diverse and extensive background in the industry, having also worked as an actor, writer, director, executive producer, distribution company chairman, and currently as a studio chief. Over the past forty years, he has produced twenty-five major films, including two that reached number one at the US box office: Missing in Action (1984) and Man on Fire (2004). He now leads Silver Lion Films, an independent film finance and production company he founded in 1987 with his brother Conrad, as well as Santa Fe Studios, the world’s first environmentally friendly film and television production facility, which he developed with his son Jason in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Born in Mexico City in 1948, Lance was raised in a family immersed in international politics and the arts. His mother, Constanza, was a renowned ballerina and choreographer, his father, Alan, an American diplomat and health innovator. His grandmother, Marión de Lagos, was a playwright, journalist, and actress, and his uncle was the famed muralist Siqueiros. His grandfather, Domingo Kamffer, an Italian immigrant and rancher, hosted and appeared in Howard Hawks' Viva Villa! (1934) on his ranch near Mexico City. Twenty-six years later, Lance began his film career acting alongside John Wayne in Hawks' final film, Rio Lobo (1970).
After earning both a BA and MBA from La Universidad de las Americas and serving as press coordinator for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Lance began his early film career as an actor in movies such as Soldier Blue (1970) and Lawman (1971). In 1975, he moved to Los Angeles, guest-starring on television shows like Hawaii Five-O and McCloud before transitioning behind the camera. From 1977 to 1980, he managed the US operations of Pelmex, Mexico’s national film distribution company. During his leadership, Pelmex co-produced over 20 films and released more than 100 theatrical titles annually. He soon started producing films himself, including Wolf Lake (1980) and Caboblanco (1980), featuring stars like Rod Steiger, Jason Robards, and Charles Bronson. His collaboration with Bronson continued with projects such as 10 to Midnight (1983) and The Evil That Men Do (1984). After writing and producing Missing in Action (1984), he achieved his first major success and went on to direct its sequel and the cult favorite Steel Dawn (1987), starring a young Patrick Swayze. In the 1990s, Lance produced several family-oriented films, including Pure Luck (1991) with Martin Short and Danny Glover, The Air Up There (1994) with Kevin Bacon, and Flipper (1996) starring Elijah Wood and Paul Hogan.
In 1998, Lance produced and directed One Man's Hero, a deeply personal film that took 25 years to bring to fruition. The movie tells the true story of Irish immigrants who, after fleeing the Great Famine of 1845, enlisted in the American army, faced religious persecution, deserted to Mexico, and became involved in the Mexican-American War. Celebrated as heroes in Mexico but seen as traitors in the US, the film was considered too controversial for wide commercial distribution and thus had limited release. Nonetheless, it received critical acclaim, with reviewers comparing Lance’s work to that of John Ford and David Lean. When the film premiered in Ireland, Lance and star Tom Berenger attended the event in Belfast. The film reached influential figures including Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and the mayor of Belfast. On a packed summer night, these two long-time adversaries in Ireland’s Troubles publicly came together for the first time, moved by the film’s portrayal of suffering on both sides, and embraced like brothers afterward.
In the early 2000s, Lance produced several notable films, including Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) with Paul Hogan and Man on Fire (2004), starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott. His comprehensive expertise across all filmmaking stages—from acting to production to directing—has earned him a reputation for exceptional management of schedules and budgets while nurturing the creative process. He is widely recognized for successfully guiding stories from script to screen, consistently delivering films on time and within budget. His projects have always returned profits to investors.
Building on these achievements, in 2007 Lance embarked on creating a premier filmmaking facility in New Mexico. Santa Fe Studios opened in late 2011 as the world’s first “green” film studio. Recent productions there include Fox’s acclaimed TV series Cosmos (2014) and Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014).
Lance holds a BA and MBA from La Universidad de las Americas and is a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the Screenwriters Guild, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
