Biografia
After producing The Mike Douglas Show, Erni joined the NBC Television Network, where he launched Regis Philbin's national career as the Emmy®-winning producer of The Regis Philbin Show. At NBC, he also helped develop and create the daytime program Fantasy, featuring daytime's first female minority host Leslie Uggams, who later won an Emmy® for Best Host in the 1981-82 television season. From 1982 to 1989, Erni produced for and collaborated with top television executives including Fred Silverman and Roger and Michael King. He wrote and produced for talents such as Charles Grodin, Billy Crystal, Terry Bradshaw, and Oprah Winfrey. While producing other shows, he served as consultant and executive producer for the King brothers for three years in the mid-1980s as they launched their company.
In March 1989, he joined KingWorld full-time as Vice President of Programming and Development and was promoted to Senior Vice President in March 1991. During his time at KingWorld, he helped acquire rights to Candid Camera and Hollywood Squares, managed current on-air programs including Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Oprah, Rolonda, The Charles Grodin Show, The Arts & Entertainment Revue, and contributed to creating and producing Inside Edition, Instant Recall, and American Journal. After KingWorld was acquired by CBS/Paramount in 1998, he became an independent producer and established Di Massa Productions, Inc., focusing on first-run television programs and new media ventures. During this period, he created The Home Team for Twentieth Century Fox Television in partnership with Comcast, assisting Comcast’s West Coast expansion prior to its acquisition of NBC/Universal.
In 2000, he joined The Manhattan Entertainment Group as a consultant for entertainment acquisitions. He traveled to Europe on behalf of Scientific Games to help develop television concepts for state-run lottery enterprises worldwide as a board member of ITV Games. In 2001, he partnered with industry veteran Scott Towle, former president of ORION Television and KingWorld Distribution, to form Coastline Productions. He also co-founded VISTA Entertainment and contributed to projects for Chambers Productions, the production division of Chambers Communications—one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest broadcasters and production companies—including aiding the development of a multimillion-dollar studio complex in Oregon.
Through Vista Media, he has served as a scholar for the GLG Councils, a global network of academics, scientists, industry professionals, and others. He has provided consultations, reports, and educational presentations for clients such as Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, Falcon Investment Advisors, Aperian Management, Eminence Capital, Pali Capital, LLG Capital, OSS Capital, and Northern Trust. He currently serves as president of Vista Media, a full-service new media and television production company. Additionally, he served for ten years on the advisory board of SnowballExpress.org and is a board member of LucyPetFoundation.org. His video productions for both organizations have raised awareness of their missions—to support military widows and orphans and to rescue homeless pets.
Honors: Mr. Di Massa is recognized in Psi Chi – The National Honor Society in Psychology; Who's Who in Emerging Leaders in America (1986-87); Who's Who in the West (1989); Who's Who in America (2000–present); and is a recipient of a National Emmy® Award.
Memberships: Writers Guild of America (WGA), Producers Guild of America (PGA), National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), Psi Chi.
