Red Hot & Ready to grill: Hannigan mixes up barbecue, comedy By Pat Lee, Television Reporter, Halifax Herald Not many people would up and move to a whole new province and city on a bet. A $5 bet, at that. But, then again, not everyone is a risk-taking go-getter like director Joshua Hannigan, who did indeed move from Ontario to Halifax after a friend bet him that he wouldn't last six months here. That was almost four years ago. " It was very late at night," Hannigan remembers of his friend's challenge to head East. " So I booked my train ticket that night and woke up the next morning thinking, what have I done?" But with $100, a circle of friends living here, and a resume filled with experience in commercial and design work, Hannigan not only collected the $5 bet but has made a life in Nova Scotia. The most recent proof of his professional success has materialized on the digital channel MenTV with the debut this week of the lively new cooking show Red Hot & Ready, directed by the 27-year-old Ontario Native. Filmed last fall in the Halifax area, the 65 episode series - airing daily at 8:30 am and 4:30 PM - is produced by Halifax based Ocean Entertainment (The Inn Chef, Chef @ Large). All about grilling and barbecuing, it stars chef John Pritchard and features co-host Melissa Carson. For someone who had not directed full-time series television before - he had previously specialized in commercials and short-form documentaries - Hannigan had to get up to speed pretty quickly since the series was on an unbelievably short schedule. But, like that bet to move East, it was a challenge he was keen to accept. " We shot all 65 episodes in six weeks," he said. "It's never really been done before and everybody said it couldn't be." Filmed both inside and out at a house in Halifax's south end, Hannigan said they learned fairly fast how to use their time most effectively, like shooting many cooking sequences together or putting an enclosure over the outdoor barbecue so they could film rain or shine. Each 30-minute episode finds upbeat chef Pritchard - a P.E.I native who is currently cooking in Bermuda but planning to relocate to Halifax - demystifying grilling techniques or recipes, along with looking at tools of the trade. Carson's job is to explore the whys and what fors of the barbecuing culture (and the show IS on MenTV, so her job is also to provide some sizzle with the steak.) While cooking is the main point of Red Hot & Ready, it also comes with a healthy dash of comedy as well. " We have comedy and we have cooking. Comedy has it's own rhythm and cooking has it own rhythm, so melding those two things together was a real delight because of John Pritchard," Hannigan said. "Everyday John would come in with a new schtick." The director said they also used the crew as foils for their comedy. "In later episodes you start to see a bit of the interplay behind the scenes that most other cooking shows don't have. We really tried to involve the crew as much as possible. The camera assistant ended up being the unofficial third host. Hannigan said the fledgling new digital channel approached Ocean Entertainment to produce a show for the digital channel aimed at men. Not surprisingly, they came up with the grilling theme ("It's the one place that all men seem to be able to cook. There's fire, there's burning things, it's all good.") He was brought on board to bring an edge to the show, thanks to his experience shooting fast-paced commercials. Hannigan actually started out an actor in his hometown after the Mel Gibson/Diane Keaton clunker Mrs. Soffel was filmed there almost 20 years ago. " We called it Mrs. Awful because it ended up being really bad. But my family all got the bug at the same time and I started acting at that point." His mother is now a wardrobe designer and his father a set designer. He changed course from acting, though, after hearing how few actors get work and signed up for the media arts program at Sheridan College, which he carefully points out he did not graduate from. Instead he left early to work for a commercial producer, which lead to commercial and design jobs around North America, including being on the ground floor of launching the Canadian version of the MSN Web site. He also started his own design business in Toronto, specializing in interactive and Web-based designs. All of this work has lead him to Red Hot & Ready, which will be supported by a Web site with recipes, grilling information and clips from the show. " This is my first opportunity to creatively take everything that I've been thinking about television and really try and make something out of it," he said. He's hopeful that the cooking series will be back for a second season, and possibly be seen on a more accessible network (MenTV is owned by Global Television and TVA Inc.) And as for that $5 bet? He said it's paid off in spades. " After having worked in L.A. and Toronto and New York I've definitely found home here. I know from what's in the wings that things I've waited seven years to do are going to happen, and they're going to start here."

© 2002 Ocean Entertainment, info@redhotandready.tv