Hanlon performed in 27 plays in New York and regionally. He worked with Tony Award-winning director
Vivian Matalon in the play Money/Mercy by Stephen Temperley produced at The Acting Studio - New York / Chelsea Repertory Company and soon after started guest starring for TV shows filming in New York City. In between acting jobs, Hanlon worked at
The New York Daily News in the advertising department. He worked at
The Daily News from 1986 to 1992. In 1992, he joined the
New York City Fire Department as a firefighter. His brother had bet him $500 he couldn't pass the test. Hanlon attained a perfect score and was appointed soon after. Hanlon was assigned and working in a busy fire division. He wanted to show people what the life of a fireman was really like; this had never been done before. In 2001, Hanlon convinced the Fire Commissioner to allow him to shoot a documentary about Tony Benetatos, a probationary, or "probie", firefighter. During filming, the
September 11 attacks took place. Hanlon finally released his documentary as the series
9/11, which aired on
CBS. In 2016, for the 15th anniversary of his award-winning 9/11 documentary series, Hanlon went back to New York City. He served as executive producer, director and cinematographer for
CNN's
9/11: Fifteen Years Later. The New York chapter of the Academy of Arts and Sciences for the 20th anniversary of September 11th attacks - the airing of Hanlon's 9/11 documentary.- Awarded James Hanlon with the prestigious "Television' EMMY " "Governors Award" for Outstanding Filmmaker and Director of a documentary series anthology. ==References==