Ice Brigade Invades Food Network in Extreme Ice Sculpting Series

Armed with chain saws, chisels and sledge hammers, Michigan-based chef Randy Finch and his team of renegade ice artists blow the lid off ice sculpting by developing out-of-this-world, original designs that defy the imagination on Food Network's new primetimes series Ice Brigade. To these frozen outlaws, the standard wedding swans are simply huge ice cubes. Premiering Thursday, March 3rd at 10pm ET/PT, each hour-long episode proves Randy and his crew are the masters of this bone-chilling craft as they construct fully-functioning ice sculptures including: a lounge with sushi station and pool table, casino game room with a spinning roulette wheel, bowling lanes with pins and balls, life-size chessboard and carousel, DJ booth with spinning turntables and working speakers, grand piano, putt-putt course, pinball machines, and mechanical bulls. They over deliver and impress every time; no job is out of reach for this team! Visit www.foodnetwork.com/icebrigade for more information, bios, and photo gallery. Ice Brigade is produced by Mandt Bros. Productions.

With extensive culinary training and more than 20 successful years in the ice sculpting business, friends and business partners Randy Finch and Derek Maxfield own and operate Ice Sculptures Ltd in Grand Rapids, Mich. Together with their team, they ideate and execute amazing ice sculptures that have been featured on national television, recognized in industry media, and included at movie premieres, celebrity galas, concerts and sporting events. Randy and Derek were two small town Michigan boys originally drawn to the culinary arts to fulfill their love of science and art, but eventually found their true calling in ice sculpting. They both studied Culinary Arts at local Michigan colleges and met while working under Master Chef Dan Hugelier at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. Eventually, after several jobs in the culinary and restaurant world, they started carving ice and selling it locally using their car trunk as a makeshift studio. In 1994, they realized their dream and opened Ice Sculptures Ltd. Now, more than 15 years later, the company is thriving and has more than 10 employees - many featured in season one.

About Randy Finch:

Born and raised in Michigan, Randy dreamt of becoming a chef and architect since he was 10 years old. He worked as a bus boy and prep cook at local restaurants to learn about life in restaurant kitchens and moved to Savannah, Ga., after high school where carved his first pieces of ice working in a hotel restaurant assisting the on-site sculptor. In 1989, he graduated from Michigan's Oakland Community College with a degree in Culinary Arts. He then worked at the renowned Amway Grand Plaza Hotel for Master Chef Dan Hugelier where he met Derek Maxfield, a fellow apprentice. After several years of traveling and working as a private chef, Randy settled back in Michigan and teamed up with Derek to open Ice Sculptures Ltd in 1994. Randy has taught countless ice sculpting classes, garnered myriad awards in food and ice competitions, and co-authored "Ice Sculpting the Modern Way" (Delmar Learning, 2004).

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 99 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.25 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com) and Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is the manager and general partner.

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