Biografia

After thinking about writing a screenplay for years, Pizzo began writing Colpo vincente (1986) after his alma mater Indiana University won the 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball national championship.

Graduated from Indiana University in 1971. Earned a master's degree from the University of Southern California film school and completed some work toward a PhD.

Met director David Anspaugh, his collaborator on Colpo vincente (1986), Rudy - Il successo di un sogno (1993), and In campo per la vittoria (2005), at Indiana University, where both men were members of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

Directed several "Fulfilling the Promise" TV commercials that promote his alma mater Indiana University.

Early in his career, Pizzo worked as a story editor at Warner Bros. Television. Later, at Time Life Films, he served as vice president of movies of the week and miniseries, and then as vice president of feature films.

I had two movies made early in my career. Then, it was as if I had overdrawn at the karma bank. Sports movies were falling out of favor, largely because studios got seduced by international sales.

If I can make people cry in screenplay form, I know we have a serious chance in movie form.

You can't give away the power to other people to define who you are, what you can do, and how valuable your work is.

When I decided I wanted to be in the film business, everybody told me I couldn't do it--the odds were too great, I'd be disappointed--and they meant it in the best way, the people who loved me and cared about me. ... If you ever give away the power to other people to tell you what you're capable of, you'll never be able to be fully realized as a human being.

I don't dwell on anything that has happened in the past, good or bad. I'm only concerned with the future.