Trivia

After thinking about writing a screenplay for years, Pizzo began writing Best Shot (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 Best Shot (1986), Rudy (1993), and The Game of Their Lives (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.

Has two sons with ex-wife Greta Lind: Anthony, born in 1994, and Quinn, born in 1997.

Wrote a draft of Navy Seals (1990).

Appeared as a background extra on the beach in A Thousand Pardons - You're Dead! (1969).

Is of Sicilian and Irish descent.

Is the oldest of eight children.

Prefers to be known as a filmmaker rather than a screenwriter.

When working on a screenplay, Pizzo avoids making any revisions until he's completely finished writing the first draft.

Doesn't write using a detailed outline, because he believes screenplays need to be fluid.

Wrote his master's thesis on the films of director Arthur Penn.

Applied for and was granted conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War.

Avoids watching movies when writing a screenplay.

Pizzo rarely watched TV while growing up, preferring to read instead. Some of his favorite authors were Mark Twain, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway.

His favorite movies include The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Vikings (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Shoot the Pianist (1960), Spartacus (1960), El Cid (1961), Jules and Jim (1962), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), and The Thin Red Line (1998).

Admires screenwriters Robert Bolt, Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond, Robert Towne, and Aaron Sorkin and directors David Lean, John Ford, François Truffaut, Martin Scorsese, and Terrence Malick.