Ramblings of an Errant Rogue

Months ago I was working on my new Actor Reels for 2010 and I just forgot to post 'em! So I will try to get them up from home this week as my ftp info at work seems to have evaporated. (Remind me, Herb... if you don't see 'em by the end of the week)

Cheers!

Lance

2009-11-07T14:41:00.001-08:00

OK, I finally got around to updating my site - thanks in part to the Swine Flu. My November update is online. WooHOO!

Wow! I have to get busy updating my site!

2009-09-06T00:31:00.001-07:00

Since my last post, I have done the title character in an ABC pilot, played Adolf Hitler for a History Channel docudrama, delivered a baby for the Health Network, created a new character for a popular video game franchise, gotten a small voiceover role in a feature animation with an all-star cast, booked a role in a soon-to-be Lovecraftian cult classic... I know I'm forgetting some stuff.... OK, more's a comin'!

Could it be that we're over-saturated with blogs?

2009-09-06T00:26:00.001-07:00

Just noticed I have failed to add anything to my blog since February of 2008.... and no one seems to have noticed?! INCLUDING ME!!!

When it rains....

2008-02-25T21:42:00.001-08:00

Booked a commercial for a Russian telecommunications company and then had a very good callback for HP, and the casting folks said, "Now, we're shooting on Friday, will that work for you?" and of course the Russian commercial shoots Wednesday thru Friday! Hopefully with a little luck and my agent's influence, we'll be able to get me in and out by Thursday and free up Friday should I book the HP gig. I'm just sayin'....

Hubbub about Tom Cruise and Scientology

2008-01-19T10:28:00.001-08:00

Wow! It's no wonder stories like these are newsworthy. So many people have to defend their beliefs because they desperately want to "be right!" Sadly, most have the idea that "I must be right and therefor you are WRONG." There are commonalities in most religions and wouldn't it be amazing if people could just look into their heart and do good for their fellow man regardless of race, gender, creed or any other man-imposed label? Scientology is not a path I choose to follow but I have explored many of the World's religions and have always kept an open mind. There can be a lot of good to be mined from religious thought... for that matter, there can also be a lot of good derived from atheistic thought as well. We're all just trying to find our way in the World, 'cause we don't know what comes after... if anything. Can't we all just live and let live and listen to others (or not) with a compassionate heart? IMAGINE! (I miss John Lennon ;-)

Peace.

As Time Goes By.... My Rye Mistake

2007-11-27T14:44:00.001-08:00

I was a fool! I was visiting the Rose Bowl Swap Meet this month and stumbled upon a booth where this man was unloading his grandfather's bar. The grandfather apparently didn't drink, but kept the bar for guests and perhaps appearances?! One of the items for sale was an unopened bottle of Old Overholt from 1957! The kid wanted $20 bucks for it and I was out of cash. Rather than RUN to the cash machine... I went looking for this Fedora seller I've seen before.... Of course by the time I got back to this kid, he had sold a number of bottles including the Old Overholt! (Sob!) It may be one of the grandest "Fish that got away" stories I will henceforth be lamenting.

Oh, I just realized that I didn't blog about the success of our medieval marriage ceremony!

2007-08-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

It went off better than we hoped by all accounts! Of course I could nit-pick, 'cause I can be a bit obsessive-compulsive at times.... who knew I had "control issues?!" But I will try to upload the first batch of photos to the official site this week or next (The best-laid plans of mice and men) - http://wedding.lancejholt.com/

Man, this is frustrating....

2007-08-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

I'm checking over the links I've set to my on-camera reels from the IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase) and to my horror, I find that my reels are choppy and not running smoothly! Don't know if my compression is fouled up or how long these have been like this... The lesson of course is to monitor your business tools closely! Aargh! If you have trouble viewing them (and you wish to, of course) Please contact me directly and I will see that you either get a link to a functioning demo reel or I can upload a compressed version for you.

Two days before we make the trek and step back in time...

2007-08-02T00:12:00.001-07:00

August 3rd we pick up the van, pack it and drive up north to the Great Northwest.... oh, after I stop by Warner Bros. to audition for the role of "John Lennon" in the upcoming "Watchmen" film. Now my brother, Keith sent me the lead to audition weeks ago, but my manager could drum up no interest, so I proceeded to grow my "medieval beard" for the wedding. Now with two days to go and a great looking Van Dyke (if I do say so myself), I get called in for the Lennon role!

The last time I was called in to audition for "John Lennon" was for the film, "Chapter 27" and I was in the middle of shooting the role of Henry Morgan in "True Caribbean Pirates." My manager INSISTED that I shave my Van Dyke during our week off from filming.... needless to say, I didn't get the role and man, were the producers pissed at me! (Of course I DID check it out with my makeup artist before shaving the beard, but... you get the idea). As much as I would like to get this role, I simply can't shave for this audition. I mean, my wedding is a pretty big production too. Ellen loves my Van Dyke and yes, it does make me look more period-correct. I will be going to the audition with lots of "Lennon-like" photos under my arm. Just hope someone there has the imagination to see through the facial hair. Murphy's Law rules my household.

Interesting note: Mark Chapman is the actor who eventually booked the "Chapter 27" gig, which is fitting since he lost out on a television docudrama in the late 80's because his name was too similar to the murderer of John Lennon. I was at one of the first auditions for "Northern Exposure" and the casting director said, "Where were YOU when I was casting THAT show?!" So it just seems weird that our paths are crossing in odd ways.

Terrific pix from the Bachelor Adventure Ride

2007-07-23T00:35:00.001-07:00

Some of me mates snapped some fine pix on our unique "Bachelor Adventure Ride" (mentioned earlier). Of particular note are the photos of Joshua Dearing. This guy is good with the camera! Check them out. There's a link on my homepage

The Bachelor "Adventure Ride"

2007-07-13T13:57:00.001-07:00

Had a bachelor party the other night, wherein my "posse" and I dressed up in fedoras and double-breasted suits and hit several of the oldest LA bars with pre-war history. It was awesome, and we've all vowed to try and make it a monthly event.... we'll see, but I hope so..... bringin' back the fedora, one head at a time.

Aargh! Foiled again by the bean-counter!

2007-07-13T13:26:00.001-07:00

I was just offered the role of Winfield Scott Hancock in the Discovery Channel's production of the Battle of Gettysburg... and the Executive Producer decided to renege and cast some guy on the East Coast to save transportation fees. That's a little disappointing to say the least. On the bright side.... it relieves a little stress surrounding how little time we have left to get our medieval wedding in perfect order.... there's always a bright side.

28 Days until my medieval wedding!

2007-07-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

Still so much to do, but most of the costumes are completed and look incredible, the shields with their individual heraldic designs are finished, the crowns are almost done. The second batch of mead has been racked and will soon be bottled to mellow for a guarenteed "honeymoon."

Our piper has been engaged. The photographer is at the ready (I think).

It's all looking good.

Hahahahaha... Blogger comes through for me!

2007-03-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

I thought this was lost, but now it has been found (I sound like an evangelical, don't I?)

Been mighty busy, folks. Sorry for the long passages of time between dynamic action! Since the last post, Ellen and I have both been hard at work with... er.... work and work on the wedding, etc. ad infinitum.

Ellen landed a terrific job designing costumes for a private school and I finally got back in the high-tech rat-race working for another advertising agency.... whew! Finally! I also was cast in "No Time for Sergeants" at the Glendale Centre Theatre, and "Leadership Burbank," the incredible program I am involved with has been amazingly time consuming and incredibly rewarding. The Class of 2007 is working toward raising funds to buy 10 AED units for the City of Burbank (http://leadershipburbank2007.org)... Definitely one tired guy. Cheers for now.

Great post... all lost

2007-03-19T23:41:00.000-07:00

Terrific! I spend I-don't-know-how-long and a juicy post and when I go to publish it, I find out that Google has shifted the procedure and now thank you very much, it's all gone into the cybersphere! Aaaagh! I'm going to bed.

Two Year Anniversary!

2007-02-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

Ellen and I celebrated our two year anniversary tonight at the Ivy Restaurant in Beverly Hills, compliments of Tavis Smiley. (Ellen has assisted Tavis and his assistants on several occasions at Restoration Hardware, and Tavis was very generous in showing his appreciation... I'll bet he enjoyed Ellen's enthusiasm in our upcoming marriage too)

We had a wonderful evening as we usually do when we go out on the town together. Peter O'Toole joined us at the restaurant... (I can't understand why he didn't stop by the table?) It's no wonder this restaurant is so well known in Beverly Hills. The wait staff were excellent, the food was terrific and the desserts were to-die-for. Happy Anniversary, Ellen and thank you so much Tavis!

Only in Hollywood!

2006-12-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

Today was a day like many other days, wherein this actor-at-large had to pay the bills by working a day job. :-(

During the morning, Timothy Dalton showed up to do a little Christmas shopping, and yours truly... recognizing the ol' cleft chin, immediately misidentified him, walked up and introduced himself as "another Lance" (mistaking him for another cleft-chinned soap star) - Needless to say, he wasn't terribly amused but was kind enough to say, "I've been called worse." Oops! When I realized my mistake and apologized, he seemed pretty gracious... but I still felt like an idiot.

Later that same day, I was helping another customer and couldn't help thinking I knew her. She almost felt like a friend. Finally I asked if she had been in before because she seemed awfully familiar, and she asked me if I had ever seen "Deadwood?" BuhDUH! It was Robin Weigert (Calamity Jane).

(Sigh) I'd rather be acting myself... well, I guess I AM acting... acting like a responsible person and keeping the rent paid! :-p

Cheers all!

Lessons learned

2006-08-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

Had a callback for an interesting film called, "Montana." Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I was totally unprepared for the callback (sigh). My M.O. is typically to keep my sides from my auditions (which I print out from my computer before arriving at the audition) and then if I am called back, I have them in my audition folder, ready for review or study. On this particular audition, their response to me was terrific and they felt confident that I would get a callback, but would I mind leaving my sides (apparently actors are notorious for walking off with their sides) - thinking I would print another copy for myself, I said, "sure." - LESSON: Don't disrupt a well established pattern of behavior if it serves you well.

I got the callback, but was working a day gig in Ontario, CA the day of... and I figured as per usual, my sides were with me in the folder - SURPRISE! I was forced to show up cold and unprepared. Could leave the pages and give real contact to the woman reading with me. With a room FULL of people while attempting my Russian accent in front of the Russian Director.

Log this under: "PREPARATION: Archived Sides"

Naked City - First weekend of filming

2006-07-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

I feel very fortunate to be part of this production. A film noir (neo-noir) short with a tight script, incredibly talented crew and fellow actors with a strong, clear vision. An association that could herald great things in our future.

My manager appears to be working pretty hard!

2006-06-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

He's been scheduling me for quite a few auditions this week - which is awesome. The Commercial Agency seems to have finally kicked in too. All great news since I can now devote myself full-time to persuing the art/craft of acting.

Just had a Taco Bell audition today where I dressed up in traditional "Pirate Captain" garb for a little stereotype fun.

Yesterday I had a blast filming (actual film) and videotaping (digital video) an episode of a new Mercury Insurance campaign... hopefully it will be funny... er... we thought it was :-/

Widgets

2006-06-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

What am I doing?! I'm falling for the thrill of the new. I just ordered "SMS Mac" - a widget for sending messages to other people's mobile phones. True, it's kind of annoying typing IMs on a cellphone, so I guess this could be handy - particulary when I have maxed out my minutes for the month. Will I use it? THAT is the question.

BTW As I get more familiar with this blogging widget, I anticipate more interesting blogs... hehehehe.... sorry about the drivel so far :-)

Don't know why I procrastinate so...

2006-06-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

I was trying to help my brother out with a project he's working on and attempting to come up with this cartoon for him. I just hate every attempt I make at it... but I think I have finally worked through it. Now we'll see if he likes what I came up with.

New Intel Core Mac Mini

2006-05-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I was beset with problems initially... Apple has a nasty habit of keeping little tidbits of info secret, like VGA monitors sometimes have issues working with the Mac Mini and Final Cut Pro requires a graphics card other than the one built into my new Mac.

I'm goin' with it though... now I can begin recording my audiobooks!

Ramblings of an Errant Rogue

2006-04-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

Ramblings of an Errant Rogue

I finally met some of the members of my Commercial Agency... after nearly a year of representing me! I don't really get it, but I guess they're busier than me... and I AM busy. Let's see if it's a good fit now.

A new contact for antique arms

2006-03-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

http://gentlemenadventurers.lancejholt.com/ Here's just one of my sites that show off Ellen's fine costume skill.

Middlesex Village Trading This place looks like a pirate or highwayman's dream! Check them out.