Pitof started his career in 1979 as an assistant director and editor of films and commercials. He then branched out into musical scoring, software design and graphic design, creating entire visual graphics packages with titles and logos for a variety of French television stations.

A pioneer of digital imaging in France, Pitof made his debut in visual effects in 1986 while working on commercial, video and films for recognized directors such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Bertrand Travernier and Luc Besson. Pitof then became involved in helping to create the first French software for digital visual effects for use in feature films.

In 1994, Pitof won the Technical Grand Prize for visual effects at the Cannes Film Festival for his work in Dead Tired. In 1995, he was honored with the Medal of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture in France.

Pitof went on to direct trailers, most notably A Tribute to Jessie Owens and Carol Lewis, for which he won the Gold Podium medal at MIFED in 1996 and the Gold Teapot medal at Imagina in 1996.

In 1997, Pitof took on the role of second unit director for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Alien: Resurrection, and consequently won second prize for visual effects at Imagina that year. It was Pitof's third collaboration with Jeunet after working together on the Jeunet/Marc Caro films Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.

In September 2001, Vidocq premiered in France. Vidocq was Pitof's feature film directorial debut and is the first feature film made in high definition. The film was a commercial success and garnered many awards including five honors - The Citizen Kane Award, Best Film, Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Music and Best Makeup - from the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges, Spain.

Credit: filmbug.com