Joe Maggio is a celebrated writer-director, renowned for his innovative and boundary-pushing cinematic endeavors. His impressive body of work has garnered widespread recognition, having been showcased at esteemed festivals and museums around the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of the Moving Image, Paley Center for Media, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Maggio's initial foray into filmmaking, Virgil Bliss (2001),received critical acclaim and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards, including the John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature under $500,000 and Best Debut Performance for actor Clint Jordan.
His sophomore effort, Milk + Honey (2003),premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won a Special Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Atlanta Film Festival.
Paper Covers Rock (2008) made its debut at SXSW and was subsequently acquired by IFC Films for global VOD and DVD distribution, as well as by Showtime for North American cable.
Bitter Feast (2010) premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was released theatrically and on VOD through MPI Media/Dark Sky Films, earning nominations for two Golden Chainsaw Awards from Fangoria Magazine.
The Last Rites of Joe May (2011),produced in collaboration with Steppenwolf Films, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and received critical acclaim throughout North America, with the late Roger Ebert including it on his list of best films of 2011.
Maggio's sixth feature film, Supermoto (2016),was shot on the prairies of Eastern North Dakota and premiered at the Minneapolis International Film Festival.
He has also collaborated with Vincent D'Onofrio on three radio plays, Man on The Ledge (2012),Ram King (2013),and Cannibals (2015),as part of the Tales From Beyond the Pale series.
In 2006, Maggio founded Incidental Films, a production company dedicated to creating "Incidental Cinema," ultra-indie films that prioritize narrative truth and creative freedom.
As of 2022, Maggio is working on a feature documentary, Gary from Omaha, about one man's hunt for a mythical creature in Oregon's Blue Mountains, and has recently completed the feature film Bliss, the sequel to his award-winning debut feature Virgil Bliss (2001) and the second installment in the Virgil Bliss trilogy.
Maggio has also taught at NYU's Film and Dramatic Writing departments and is a faculty member at Emerson College, where he instructs directing courses.
