Enzo Di Maio Wins Emmy
by Rowan Beck,
June 2, 2011, page 9.....

Enzo Di Maio won an Emmy for Vermont Public Television’s Headline Vermont at the 34th annual Boston/New England awards in Boston on May 14. The Emmy for Historical/Cultural Program/Special went to Di Maio, executive producer; Daniel Lyons, producer; and Nate Huffman, videographer/editor.
 
Nick Monsarrat, also a Charlotter, was featured in the production due to his extensive knowledge of the newspaper industry.

Headline Vermont is an hour-long documentary based on Vermont’s historical love for newspapers. The documentary covers key moments in history and their effect on newspapers from the grueling frontier days to present. Many things that were written about in the past, like explicit details of a suicide, are no longer. The film also covers the multiple newspapers that sprang up during challenging times like the Civil War and Abolition.

This was Di Maio’s first Emmy as an executive producer and his fifth all told. He was responsible mainly for overseeing the project, making sure it was done in a timely manner on budget, and providing creative guidance. However, it did not come without challenges. The piece was not completed until just moments before airing. He spoke of going through the final rendering process on the computer, and the computer reported, “six hours and we were airing in 5!” He added, “We had anticipated 30 minutes, so we had to go back and figure out which effect we had to get rid of.”

In the film Monsarrat tells stories of Vermont’s earliest newspapers, including the rise of advertising and the use of papers to report an unfaithful spouse. He recalls his own work at the Rutland Herald and the importance of “showing up” as a journalist. Di Maio was very complimentary in his description and truly appreciated all that Monsarrat brought to the picture. “He was very instrumental, the backbone and central voice of newspaper history and wisdom.”

Di Maio was pleasantly surprised by the win. “It’s nice to be reminded that your peers are still noticing your work.” He did not attend the award ceremony in Boston and actually found out that Headline Vermont had won through an e-mail exchange with a friend that night. Di Maio had sent his friend a congratulatory e-mail for his win, and the friend sent back congratulations “to you, too!” Headline Vermont can be viewed at vpt.org and is well worth a watch.