Meet Luis Pizzaro of Operation Repo!

LT Staff

November 28, 2011

by: Lulaine Compere

The repo men of the world now have a show that represents their lifestyle with Operation Repo. Born in the Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents and raised in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley, Luis Pizzaro dreamed of being a director because of his love of the A-Team show. Operation Repo started after he built a relationship with Telemundo’s news team after they did a special A Day in the Life of a Repo Man following him around. When the segment aired people noticed, everywhere I went people would recognize me as the repo man says Pizzaro. The segment was a hit and we did 4 more after using different angles.” After, Pizzaro went to his church grabbed some people who had film experience and shot a pilot for what became Operation Repo. “I brought the show to contacts at Telemundo and they bought the show in 2 weeks and the first episode aired October 16, 2006. It was successful beating telenovelas and in 2008 Tru-TV came to us and then we did the English version.” The show follows Luis, his sister Sonia, his daughter Lyndah, brother in law Froylan, and friend Matt as they go through their day repossessing cars and the kinds of problems they run into. Some parts are re-enacted and dramatized per the disclaimer “to protect the identities and honor of the real individuals”.  For Pizzaro, he feels grateful for the opportunity. “All of us are fortunate, the characters and formulas make it a success. The fans made us, if it wasn’t for out Latino followers we wouldn’t be where we are.” The show is in its 8th season and it just got extended. Pizzaro says the show is a group effort with everyone getting a chance to direct but his real goal is doing feature films and cites that as his next step.