James Dutcher

Dodge College Courses: Feature Screenwriting II, Fundamentals of Screenwriting

James Dutcher was consuming too much media well before it was popular. Growing up across the street from a dairy farm in upstate New York, he managed to develop and then cultivate a movie and TV addiction via a rundown local theater and a handful of NYC television channels.  

He holds an MFA in screenwriting from USC, which led indirectly to an outside-the box career writing feature length comedies for German TV. Since you’re wondering…Dutcher speaks almost no functional German. (If he wrote in German, the stories would have to be solely about pets, colors, and numbers: “Ich habe zwei Hunde.  Ein Braun und ein Schwarz!” Translation: "I have two dogs. One brown and one black." While true, it’s not the stuff of compelling cinema.) His credits include Verliebe Jungs, Popp Dich Schlank and the title-is-longer-than-the-movie romp Die Nacht, in der ganz ehrlich überhaupt niemand Sex hatte. 

In more than two decades at Dodge, Dutcher has been a part-time lecturer, full-time professor, writing program coordinator, and film division chair. In addition to teaching, he is currently the director of curriculum management, which is sort of like being a Roomba, but for problems. There is great job security. 

He likes discovering new media from students and takes great joy in introducing them to wildly entertaining movies and TV that they most likely would not have found on their own.