About
Two cultures.
Two creative approaches.
One vision.
Our name expresses duality and sustenance. In Ancient Rome, a "modio" was a cylindrically shaped container used for measuring grain. We like that the word alliterates with media and is tied to nature. Grain is nourishment. Together, our different approaches and styles bring more sustenance.
Gia Marie Amella and Giuseppe Mangione created Modio Media in Chicago in 2006 followed by the premier of their Emmy Midwest-nominated public television documentary narrated by Joe Mantegna And They Came To Chicago: The Italian American Legacy. Their work has aired globally on Discovery, HISTORY, National Geographic International, A&E, CNN International, PBS, Euronews, CNBC, among others. They bring a gusto for storytelling to the branded content they ideate, produce, film and edit across business and luxury sectors and as seasoned fixers helping overseas clients on their productions anywhere in Italy. Their first Italian-language feature documentary 30,000 Miles to the Finish was named Best Documentary at the 2021 Caorle Independent Film Festival.
At 12 years old, my family and I packed up a rental Ryder truck and drove from Chicago to Northern California for a fresh start. It took a few years to get over culture shock and soften my Midwestern accent. I began to find my groove in high school when I made my first Super8 short for an elective media class. In it, a friend of mine attempts to surf on an her mother's ironing board in the chilly Pacific. After a few exploratory years at junior college, I transferred into the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Lit major and heavily experimented with media: radio programmer, proofreader for the college paper, admin assistant and copywriter at a small ad agency. I hit my stride in grad school, earning a Master’s in Radio-TV at San Francisco State University, where I T.A.'d for core undergrad courses, was promotions director of the college radio station and wrote press releases for the School of Creative Arts. With time and tenacity, I became a full-fledged writer, producer and director. An early milestone: producing my first original documentary for a touted national public television labor series. And another: clinching a Fulbright fellowship to film popular customs in Sicily, my family's ancestral homeland. I’ve called Chicago, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, New York, Palermo, and now Tuscany, home. Three decades on, working alongside Beppe for two of them, I'm still in awe that I found my calling.
I come from a small industrial city that dates to the 11th century in Central Tuscany, roughly between Siena, Florence and Arezzo. I’m the first generation born in the region after my parents left their village in Sicily for better opportunities. After graduating from a technical institute, I spent nearly two decades at the national energy company, eventually becoming a project manager, destined to move even further up the career ladder. I was already experimenting with digital audio at home and, later, as part of a music collective mixing and producing original tracks in the experimental realm that brought us some critical acclaim. Then, I did the unthinkable, resigning from my secure day job to follow a new career path. In Chicago, I spent a few years as a freelance sound recordist on popular television series and corporate video projects as Gia and I laid the groundwork for our company dating that roughly dates the premier of our first commissioned documentary for public television. My background in non-linear audio made it easy transition to video editing. Working for Italian and international clients today, I like shifting between two languages and cultures. It's allowed us to work on some pretty unique content and meet people from all walks of life, famous and not. Jumping off the figurative precipice was completely worth it.