John Maggio (director)

John Maggio
Born
Occupation(s)Director, writer, producer
Years active2001–present

John Maggio is an American documentary film director, writer and producer.[1][2] He is best known for his feature documentary films for HBO including The Perfect Weapon (HBO), Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis (HBO), The Newspaperman (HBO) and A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (HBO).[3][4]

Life and career

Maggio began his career as a musician as one of the founding members of the band, The Crosswalk with Cody ChesnuTT.[5] Their debut album, Venus Loves A Melody was produced by Hollywood Records in 1999 with the legendary engineer Bob Clearmountain.[6] After the band was dropped from their label Maggio pursued a career in documentary film and has been a partner at Brooklyn based film company Ark Media since 2003.[7][8] In 2021, his film A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (HBO), had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.[9] In 2023, his film Milano: The Inside Story of Italian Fashion had its premiere at the Milan Fashion Week.[10] His latest film, Paul Anka: His Way, had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.[11] He is currently at work on a film documenting the immigration crisis in America.

Filmography

Year Title Contribution Note
2005-2018 American Experience Director, writer and producer 7 Episodes
2008-2016 Frontline Director, writer and Producer 4 Episodes
2017 The Newspaperman Director Documentary
2019 Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis Director and producer Documentary
2020 The Perfect Weapon Director and producer Documentary
2021 A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks Director and producer Documentary
Music Box: Mr. Saturday Night Director and producer 1 Episode
2022 Year One: A Political Odyssey Director and producer Documentary
2023 Milano: The Inside Story of Italian Fashion Director and producer Documentary
2024 Paul Anka: His Way Director and producer Documentary
2025 Seen and Heard Executive Producer 1 Episode

Awards and nominations

Year Result Award Category Work Ref.
2001 Nominated Slamdance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Virgil Bliss
2002 Nominated Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award
2007 Nominated News & Documentary Emmy Award Outstanding Science, Technology and Nature Programming American Experience - The Boy in the Bubble
2009 Nominated Outstanding Informational Programming Frontline - Growing Up Online
2010 Nominated Writers Guild of America Awards Documentary Script – Current Events Frontline - College, Inc.
2012 Won Outstanding Script for Breaking Report Frontline - Educating Sergeant Pantzke [12]
2018 Won News & Documentary Emmy Award Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis [13]
Nominated Producers Guild of America Award Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures The Newspaperman [14]
Nominated Writers Guild of America Awards Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events American Experience - Into The Amazon [15]
2020 Nominated Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events American Experience - The Poison Squad [16]
2021 Nominated News and Documentary Emmy Awards Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary The Perfect Weapon [17]
2022 Nominated Best Documentary A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks [18]
Nominated Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary
Nominated Best Editing

References

  1. ^ "Buffalo native gains perspective on family history through making of PBS documentary". news.wbfo.org. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  2. ^ "John Maggio". dceff.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  3. ^ "Check out this never-before-seen clip from HBO's The Perfect Weapon". techcrunch.com. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  4. ^ "'The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee': TV Review". hollywoodreporter.com. December 2017. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  5. ^ "Cody ChesnuTT Talks About His Indie Success, And His Album, The Headphone Masterpiece". songwriteruniverse.com. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  6. ^ "The Crosswalk (2) – Venus Loves A Melody". discogs.com. 1999. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  7. ^ "Local filmmaker John Maggio presents PBS' 'The Italian Americans'". buffalonews.com. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  8. ^ "Alison Burke, Ark Media". wp.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  9. ^ "Announcing The Feature Film Lineup For Tribeca 2021". tribecafilm.com. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  10. ^ "Submarine Boards Italian Fashion World Doc 'Milano' With Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Frances McDormand, Launches Sales at EFM – Watch Clip (EXCLUSIVE)". variety.com. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  11. ^ "TIFF: Paul Anka Sings "My Way" at Toronto Doc Premiere Dinner". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  12. ^ "FRONTLINE Wins Four Writers Guild Awards!". pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  13. ^ "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE 40TH NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARDS" (PDF). theemmys.tv. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  14. ^ "Producers Guild of America Documentary Nominations Don't Foreshadow the Oscars". indiewire.com. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  15. ^ "2019 Writers Guild Awards: The Complete List of Winners". eonline.com. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  16. ^ "WGA Awards TV Nominations: 'Better Call Saul', 'Ted Lasso' & 'The Great' Lead Way". eonline.com. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  17. ^ "42nd News and Documentary Emmy Awards" (PDF). theemmys.tv. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  18. ^ "43rd News and Documentary Emmy Awards" (PDF). theemmys.tv. Retrieved 2025-08-01.