Angelo Pizzo is the award-winning screenwriter and producer of the beloved, inspirational sports dramas HOOSIERS (the Oscar®-nominated 1986 small-town basketball story based on the 1954 Milan High School state championship contest, for which he earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature); RUDY (his 1993 story of a Notre Dame student, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who, despite setbacks, harbored a desire to play football for the Fighting Irish); and 2005’s THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES (the true tale of the 1950 U.S. soccer team that, against all odds, beat England 1-0 in a World Cup contest in Belo Horizonte, Brazil).
All three films were directed by Pizzo’s Indiana University college classmate, David Anspaugh, with whom he shared Heartland Film Festival honors for HOOSIERS and RUDY (he also serves on the festival’s board of directors).  HOOSIERS was also named best sports film of all time by both ESPN and USA Today, and is part of the Library of Congress’ National Film Register.

In 2015 Pizzo made his debut as a director on MY ALL AMERICAN from a script he wrote. The emotional drama is centered around an inspirational leader, Freddie Steinmark, of the 1969 Texas Longhorns.

Born in Chicago, Pizzo earned a degree in Political Science from Indiana University. He moved to the west coast to attend film school at the University of Southern California, then he began his career as a writer and producer at Warner Brothers Television. He went on to work for Time Life Films, where he became Vice President of feature film production, before striking out as an independent writer and producer. In addition to his feature film work, Pizzo served as associate producer on  TV movies, “Father Figure”, “Amber Waves” and “Blinded By the Light.”
In addition to his film honors, he has received numerous awards that include an honorary doctorate from Franklin College, the Thomas Hart Benton Award from IU, the Governor’s Arts Award and the Indiana Living Legends Award. He  was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest civilian honor given to a resident of Indiana. In 2014 Pizzo was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and this past summer the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame. He serves on the boards of the Indiana University Libraries, the Indiana University Varsity Club, and Bloomington Arts Council.

He is currently developing a television series with Patty Heaton’s company for CBS along with working on a number of sports scripts.