John Maggio (director)

John Maggio
Born	Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Director, writer, producer
Years active	2001–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 & Heard: The History of Black Television	Executive Producer	2 Episodes

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.

External links

• John Maggio at IMDb