Life & Work with Eli Holmes of Studio City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Holmes.

Hi Eli, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in Dallas, TX and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, in a home where creativity was a way of life. I grew up surrounded by music, imagination, and the strength of two incredible women who championed self-expression. They always encouraged my brother and me to follow our creative instincts. For a while, I thought soccer might be the path. By the end of my senior year, I had three Division 1 offers on the table—but deep down, I knew my future was somewhere else. I remember tossing those letters in the trash and telling myself I had to find a way to get to Los Angeles. I ended up getting into an acting school in Hollywood and eventually earned my BFA in Acting.
Since graduating, I’ve been chasing opportunities in both acting and music. I’ve been lucky enough to land a few big commercials—which are always fun—but my real passion has always been narrative work. I want to play characters. I want to tell stories, so I decided to create one of my own. That became Love Guns—a short film I wrote, directed, produced, composed, and acted in. It’s everything I love packed into one concept project: comedy, romance, action, music, and real human connection. I’ve always been drawn to the dynamic between a man and a woman working together in the espionage world—it can be funny, tense, romantic, chaotic and seeing them both, not just the guy, as bad a** is the cherry on top. I wanted to explore all that in a way that felt fresh and real. Wearing all the hats on this film came naturally because the vision was so clear in my head. Love Guns is just the beginning. I have so many more stories I want to tell.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road, like any, is wild. I say “is” because it’s happening now. I love where I’m at and think that this, right now, is the dream…the hustle. Motivated, every day, to get a chance to work. The call backs I didn’t get, the people that have said things and done another, the general heart-break that happens in this industry… It’s made me strong. My goal is to work with real, motivated creatives on the highest level and a windy, crazy road is the only way to do it for me.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Over the past few years, I’ve had the chance to work on a wide range of projects—from commercials for Microsoft, HIMS, Ring, Intuit Tax, to modeling gigs for seltzer brands and lifestyle products. I’m a musician and have played guitar for over seventeen years, so I’ve been in studios to record and help artists with their songs and have been featured on a few. Those opportunities were a huge part of my growth, helping me get comfortable in a professional creative space. I’ve also done short films, which became the stepping stone to realizing I should pull the trigger on making my own. Every job, big or small, has pushed me forward.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risk-taking has always been apart of my life. It started with my decision to move from St. Louis to Los Angeles right after high school—a leap that very few people from my graduating class of four hundred made. Then, adjusting to life in LA brought a whole new set of challenges. Then came the risks within acting, the entertainment industry, the creative hustle—there are so many layers to navigate. The general risk of putting yourself out there, of asking for help when you need it, the risks within playing a character, of doing the job that’s going to pay your rent or the job that won’t pay but potentially expose you to the right people. All that while trying to keep sense of self and motivation, it can be a lot. A lot of Hollywood life is risky. I’ve come to welcome the uncertainty. I’ve learned that risk can be a powerful tool, as long as you move with a good heart. That’s been my compass from the beginning: leading with intention, grounded in the values my parents instilled in me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Personal IG: @_eliholmes Film: @lovegunsfilm
• Soundcloud: there will be a single released on Spot/Apple before the film is

Image Credits
Lexus Gallegos
Steven Shulgach
Lorena Caro
James Black