Press

Local-based Hot Rides series now airing online

By: CLIFF SMELLEY, Telegraph Staff Writer

November 02, 2007

They say, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
Starke resident Dave Holland, however, is not adhering to that slogan. What happens in Vegas will go onto the World Wide Web as part of Hot Rides Motorsports TV Series.
Holland is currently at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show-one of the largest specialty automotive products shows. The general public is not allowed access to this show, but Holland, along with Ken McKlem and Mike Starling, are working the event as members of the media.
This current trip is more exciting than trips to the show in years past because he now has a way of providing up-to-date footage via the Internet, Holland said.
"Before, we had to bring (video footage) back, edit it and then find some way to show it," Holland said. "This way, we can get it out there right away."
Hot Rides Motorsports TV Series is the television show Holland and friend, and fellow executive producer, Ken McKlem envisioned creating, only rather that airing it on cable or satellite TV, as was the original plan, it is accessed by those interested in subscribing through the Web site www.hotridestv.com.
"After we build our viewing base online, then our future plans are to go ahead and take it mainstream on cable, satellite and Direct TV," Holland said.
Holland was featured in a 2005 Bradford County Telegraph, Lake Region Monitor and Union County Times story. Back then, he was in the midst of developing a show specially aimed at airing on television called "Hot Wheels Florida."
Things have changed since then, including the show's name, thanks to a letter from the Mattel toy company, which manufactures Hot Wheels cars.
"To avoid any conflict with their lawyers, my lawyer suggested we change the name," Holland said.
He admitted he was "a little bummed out" after that occurred, but Holland added the show is moving forward better than before.
"Because of the technology today with the Internet, video and communications online, we're able to move forward, go online and create our viewing base before we spend our money to go on TV," Holland said.
Photography had been a long hobby of Holland's before he decided it was really a career. Holland, who also owns the Hairy Business salon in Starke, worked as a photojournalist-along with McKlem-at WCJB-TV 20 in Gainesville and produced several independent documentaries.
He and McKlem came up with the idea for their show approximately three years ago. Since then, they have covered various shows for all kinds of vehicles and have profiled many people for the show that, as Holland described it in 2005, features "cars, bikes, trucks and the people who own them."
Stories are not limited to just those three types of vehicles.
"We've got a guy who's building an airplane from scratch," Holland said. "We're going to follow through with him."
Currently, sponsors for the show are being sought, and show hosts are being auditioned. Holland said the annual car wash featuring the Hot Rides girls, an event that debuted in 2005 in downtown Starke, will return.
For more information on Hot Rides Motorsports, visit the Web site, which currently features a free video clip including interviews with Bradford County residents Farelon McClellan and Trevor McKinley, who race at Columbia Motorsports Park.

Starke man working to put TV show together

By CLIFF SMELLEY, Telegraph Staff Writer

September 30, 2005

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David Holland discusses a scene with Emel Bass, who will serve as host of Hot Wheels Florida.

From cutting hair to on the air.
Starke resident David Holland has been a hair stylist since the late 1970s and owns his own salon (Hairy Business) in Starke. He's currently also staying busy shooting and editing video he hopes will become a TV series in Florida.

Holland describes Hot Wheels Florida as a show "about cars, bikes, trucks and the people who own them." He and friend Ken McKlem are the executive producers of the show. Both are former photojournalists with WCJB TV-20.
"We've been in production for about a year," Holland said. "We've covered tons of stories. People probably don't realize what goes on around here."
For example, Holland, who shoots and edits video footage, said he spent a day with stunt actors who were in Keystone rehearsing for the movie "The Dukes of Hazzard." He spent five weeks at Chopper City Customs in Jacksonville, documenting the complete process of building a bike, transporting it to Connecticut and auctioning it off for $76,000 to support cystic fibrosis research.
Holland has visited car shows and interviewed car, truck and motorcycle afficionados-all within the state of Florida "The good thing about Hot Wheels Florida is it's a local show about local people and clubs," Holland said.
Starke will also be included in some of that footage. Holland interviewed car, truck and motorcycle afficionados and shot footage of motorcycle stunt drivers and the Hot Wheels Florida Girls on Sept. 25 on Walnut Street near Hairy Business. The band Flashback, which is providing music for the TV show, also performed at the event, which gave Holland a chance to produce some footage without having to travel from home.
"I'm bringing it all to me. That makes it easier to gather up stories," said Holland, who gave thanks to the city of Starke and Bradford County for their cooperation in allowing him to pull Sunday's event off.
Holland said his plan for the 30-minute show is to air it five nights a week during a 13-week season. He is envisioning a late-night showing on cable, satellite and Direct TV. His two-year goal is for the show to be aired throughout north Florida. His five-year goal is to have the show aired throughout the entire state.
That's quite a jump from when Holland began dabbling in photography as a hobby, and that came about as a result of being a hair stylist.
Holland said he did not plan on being a hair stylist at first. He worked as a roofer and a mechanic after serving with the Navy, but those were jobs he did not want to do the rest of his life. Getting his hair cut by a friend who was a certified stylist prompted Holland to go to school and become certified himself.
"I've been doing it ever since," Holland said. "I love it as much today as I did the day I started."
If Holland had followed some other career path, he may not have gotten into photography. His interest began when one of his clients remarked that her hair looked so good she should take a picture of it.
"That week I went out and bought a camera, put me up a little curtain and had me a backdrop, and started taking pictures of my work," Holland said. "That's how it started."
Still photography eventually led to video. Holland produced a documentary on the Battle of Olustee before applying for a job at TV-20. He was hired, working Sundays-Tuesdays at the TV station and Wednesdays-Saturdays at his salon.
Working on Sundays afforded Holland an opportunity to shoot video that wound up being shown nationally. It was during the rash of brushfires in the area in 2000. Holland was taken up in a helicopter and flown over the fires in Waldo.
Holland admitted it made him feel like more of a professional when he saw that something he did was being shown on news shows throughout the country. Working at TV-20 helped him see that his photos and videos could be more than just a hobby.
"That allowed me to go through that next door and take it farther, to start finding ways to market and sell what I do instead of letting it sit on a shelf," Holland said.
Holland worked at TV-20 for approximately a year before venturing out on his own. He produced a documentary on Bike Week in 2004 and is currently working on a documentary of the USS Oriskany, the decommissioned aircraft carrier that is going to be sunk off the coast of Pensacola.
The idea for Hot Wheels Florida was developed approximately a year ago by Holland and McKlem. They mulled over doing a reality show along with several other ideas before settling on a show centered around cars, trucks and motorcycles. It's a theme that's hot right now, Holland said, citing the popular Discovery Channel show "American Chopper" as an example.
Unlike shows like "American Chopper," Holland wants each one of his shows to be comprised of multiple subjects, to give viewers "a little bit of everything."
Holland said that's an easy thing to do.
"There are so many directions that this can go," he said. "It's amazing. That's what I'm liking about it. I'm not going to get bored here. I've just got so much I can do and there is more out there."
Though Holland used this past Sunday's event in Starke as a means of shooting footage for the show, when he does take to the road, he does not have to go far to gather stories.
"Within a 100-mile radius there are tons of stories to cover," Holland said.
For example, Holland said he will be doing a story on Adam Gaskins and the Cable Car Concepts plant in Starke, which Gaskins manages. The plant manufactures trolleys.
No matter what type of vehicle Holland profiles, his goal is to give TV viewers an insight into the people behind the vehicles.
"It's a local show about local people shown in your local area," Holland said.
If you would like to learn more about Holland, McKlem and Hot Wheels Florida, log onto www.hotwheelsflorida. com. You may also call Holland at (904) 796-0589.

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