Jean-Yves Pitoun

Jean-Yves "JY" Pitoun was born in Pau, France and grew up in a working-class suburb south of Paris. He graduated with a degree in economics from Science Po Paris, a law degree from the Sorbonne and received a Fulbright/CEE scholarship to attend UCLA film school. He worked as an assistant director for the Washington Opera and sold his first screenplay, "The Hot Touch" to 20th Century Fox, which was directed by Roger Vadim. In the following years, he wrote screenplays and did rewrites for most of the Hollywood studios as well as writing and directing film and television in France. He co-wrote, "To kill a Priest," for Columbia Pictures, directed by Agnieszka Holland starring Christopher Lambert and Ed Harris. He also wrote and directed the film, "American Cuisine," starring Eddie Mitchell, Jason Lee, and Irene Jacobs and was the show runner and director of the French television series "Un Flic Nommé Lecoeur" which scored the highest ratings for French 2 TV that year. He subsequently wrote and directed "Haute Pierre" for France 3 TV and co-wrote "Word of Honor" for TNT based on the novel by Nelson DeMille. He created "Intervention" a medical series for TF1 and Gaumont television starring Anthony Delon. His first novel "Resistance Blues," is soon to be published by Union Square publishing and is based on his father's experience in the French resistance during World War II. He has two children and three grandchildren and lives in Los Angeles.