Angelo Pizzo () is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

, usually working on films based on a true story, and usually about athletics. He is best known for '' Hoosiers'' and '' Rudy.''

Biography

Early life and education

Pizzo grew up in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

, the grandson of a Sicilian immigrant."Angelo Pizzo Induction into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, 2014"
YouTube, November 15, 2014 He graduated from University High School and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. While at IU, Pizzo joined the

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute on January 1, 1869. The fraternity was founded by James Frank Hopkins, Greenfield Quarles and James McIlvaine Riley shortly after Hopkins witnessed w ...

fraternity, where he met future collaborator

David Anspaugh David Anspaugh (born September 24, 1946) is an American television and film director. Professional career After earning a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Bloomington, Anspaugh moved to Aspen, Colorado, where he worked as a substitute t ...

. Pizzo considered becoming a lawyer, but his father encouraged him to do something he loved. So he enrolled in the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC)

School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for S ...

Career

Pizzo began his film/television career with

Warner Brothers Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

in the story development group and then moved to Time-Life Films.Jake Kring-Schreifels
"Twenty-five years ago, an archetypal underdog story about an undersized Notre Dame football player hit theaters—but the movie was born long before that, when two wayward Indiana natives met in college"
''The Ringer'', October 11, 2018 After serving as Vice President of Feature Film Productions there, he worked with former fraternity brother Anspaugh to create ''Hoosiers'', about a small-town

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

high school team winning the state basketball title. ''Hoosiers'' earned two

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations. It was named best sports film of all time by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

and by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's expert panel and website users. ''Hoosiers'' also is listed on the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

. Later films include '' Rudy'', about a young man who dreams of playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

, and '' The Game of Their Lives'', about the U.S. Soccer Team beating the English team against all odds. Pizzo also was an associate producer on the made-for-TV movies ''Father Figure'' and ''Blinded by the Light.'' Pizzo continues writing screenplays. He also has served on the boards of the Heartland Film Festival, Kinsey Institute, and New Harmony Writers' Project.

Personal life

Pizzo lived in the Los Angeles area for about thirty years. He and his second wife, Greta Lind, settled in

Ojai, California Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and ...

but moved back to Bloomington in 2004 to raise their sons:Kuchera, Peter Noble
"Filmmaker Angelo Pizzo,"
Indiana Public Radio (June 25, 2006). Anthony, born in 1994, and Quinn, born in 1997. They divorced in 2010. Pizzo is an avid Indiana University basketball supporter and season ticket holder.

Awards

On the night of the world premiere of ''Hoosiers'' in 1986, Pizzo was named a

Sagamore of the Wabash The Sagamore of the Wabash is an honorary award created by the U.S. state of Indiana during the term of Governor Ralph F. Gates, who served from 1945 to 1949. A tri-state meeting was to be held in Louisville with officials from Indiana, Ohio ...

."IHS Will Honor Indiana Living Legends at Gala"
press release from the Indiana Historical Society, 2011 This is Indiana's highest civilian honor, given to those who have rendered distinguished service to the state or governor. He was awarded Indiana's Governor's Arts Award in 1995.
Indiana University Honors & Awards In 2000 Pizzo was given an honorary doctorate from Franklin College (Indiana), Franklin College. He received Indiana University's Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion for Distinguished Achievement in 1996 and the school's College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2010. The

Indiana Historical Society The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) is one of the United States' oldest and largest historical societies and describes itself as "Indiana's Storyteller". It is housed in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center at 450 West Ohio Street ...

named Pizzo an Indiana Living Legend in 2011. In 2013 Pizzo was inducted into the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

. He also received the Hall's Silver Medal Award, given in recognition of contributions to Indiana high school basketball by someone other than a high school player or coach. The following year he was inducted into the

National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit institution honoring exceptional U.S. athletes of Italian descent. In 1977 George Randazzo created the Italian American Boxing Hall of Fame. This was as a means for rai ...

. The Indiana Film Journalists Association gave Pizzo its Hoosier Award in 2015. In 2016 Pizzo was inducted into the Monroe County (Indiana) Sports Hall of Fame and also was given a TXMPA Impact Award from the Texas Motion Picture Alliance.Samantha Calimbahin
"Red Sanders, David Lowery Among Recipients of TXMPA Awards"
''Fort Worth Magazine''

Film credits

* '' Hoosiers'' (1986) — screenwriter, producer * '' Rudy'' (1993) — screenwriter, co-producer * '' The Game of Their Lives'' (2005) — screenwriter, co-producer * ''

My All American ''My All American'' is a 2015 American biographical drama sport film based on the life of college football player Freddie Steinmark. The film was written and directed by Angelo Pizzo. It is based on the book ''Courage Beyond the Game: The Fred ...

'' (2015) — screenwriter, director * ''

The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (2023) — screenwriter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzo, Angelo American male screenwriters Living people Writers from Bloomington, Indiana Indiana University alumni Franklin College (Indiana) alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni American writers of Italian descent Screenwriters from Indiana Year of birth missing (living people)