Dutcher was born in
Oak Park, Illinois as
Richard Hill. His family moved frequently, and at age seven his parents divorced. As a member of the LDS Church, Dutcher served a two-year
mission in Mexico. Dutcher graduated from
Brigham Young University in 1988 with a degree in film. Dutcher was married in 1988 to Gwen, moving to
Mapleton, Utah in 1999. They have seven children together. After 23 years of marriage, they divorced in 2011. The success of ''God's Army'' among Mormon audiences is credited (by Dutcher) for launching the
LDS Cinema movement of the early to mid-2000s, a small film niche of LDS movies made primarily by and for Mormon audiences.
Brigham City Dutcher followed this film in 2001 with
Brigham City, a movie about the search for a
serial murderer in a small
Utah town which has never had a murder before. As with ''God's Army
, Dutcher wrote, directed, and cast himself as the lead, while Excel Entertainment Group distributed the film. The movie explores how residents of a close-knit religious community, who are mostly LDS, react to and deal with the situation. Overall, Brigham City
garnered better reviews with critics than God's Army
, but only grossed $852,206 during its theatrical run, far less than God's Army'', despite being made with a much higher budget.
The Prophet In 2003, Dutcher announced his most ambitious movie project to date:
The Prophet, a biopic about the life of LDS Church founder
Joseph Smith, based on a screenplay written by Dutcher. In a press conference held in Utah, Dutcher called the movie "the Mount Everest of Mormon filmmaking" and said that he planned to do "the bulk of the filming" in 2004 for a 2005 theatrical release. He also announced that both
Val Kilmer and
F. Murray Abraham had agreed to portray Joseph Smith and Gov. Thomas Ford of Illinois, respectively (depending on schedules). The budget of the movie was projected at more than $12 million. The movie was never made.
States of Grace Dutcher's next film,
States of Grace (also titled ''God's Army 2: States of Grace
), was released November 4, 2005. This film follows a set of missionaries in Los Angeles caught in the middle of gang warfare. States of Grace
received the highest percentage of positive reviews of any Dutcher movie. Wade Major of Boxoffice''
magazine wrote of the director, "Dutcher has joined the ranks of the very best independent filmmakers in the world." However, the movie was also Dutcher's lowest-grossing movie up until that time.
States of Grace grossed $203,144 during its theatrical run, less than one-tenth the theatrical gross of ''God's Army''.
Falling Dutcher's next film,
Falling, tells the story of a Hollywood videographer, Eric Boyle (played by Dutcher), who stumbles across a gang murder and sells the footage to a Los Angeles news station for a small fortune. Boyle's life falls apart when the exposed gang members come after anyone with a connection to the incriminating footage. In an interview, Dutcher said that this was the most personal of all his works, and that he would self-distribute the film. The movie was shown on a single screen in
Utah for one week in January 2008 and in Los Angeles in August 2008. It was then re-released on April 27, 2012, in
Salt Lake City, Utah, on one screen at the Broadway Theater for several weeks. The movie has yet to be released on DVD or through other sources. The
Los Angeles Times said that
Falling is, "one of the best pictures of its kind in recent memory," and the
Los Angeles City Beat called it "a primal scream from an immensely talented artist."
Evil Angel In 2009, Dutcher made
Evil Angel, an action/horror movie starring
Kristopher Shepard with a supporting role by
Ving Rhames (
Mission: Impossible,
Pulp Fiction). As with his other films, Dutcher wrote, directed, and cast himself in a supporting role. The movie was originally announced to be released in October 2012 but has not had a US release.
Evil Angel was a modest success in a few foreign markets, but Dutcher later testified in court he had not been paid proper royalties. Dutcher was a witness in the 2017 court case of Utah real estate investor
Rick Koerber who funded the film and was later accused and convicted of operating a
Ponzi scheme, funding the $5 million film production with money investors believed was used to buy properties.
Tryptic In 2010, Dutcher launched a
Kickstarter campaign to raise money to complete
Tryptic, a feature film he was writing and directing. On the
Kickstarter page for the movie, Dutcher explained his need for immediate funding: The Kickstarter campaign for
Tryptic set a goal to raise $7,000. On November 1, 2010, the campaign came to a successful conclusion, having raised $10,095—144% of its goal—from 73 backers. As of December 2014, the movie has not been completed.
Boys at the Bar In 2012, Dutcher returned to his
Girl Crazy roots and made
The Boys at the Bar, a low-budget comedy that he wrote, directed, and starred in. The $150,000 budget for the movie was raised by 23 students from Dutcher's self-titled "Richard Dutcher's Movie Producers Master Class." Dutcher, along with his 23 students, formed an organization called "Project 23," in which all 23 students act as the movie's producers and fundraisers. Shot over seven days in
Salt Lake City from a heavily improvised script, the movie is "conflict free" and centers around a group of friends celebrating a birthday party and telling jokes. In May 2014, Dutcher stated that news of the film's release would be coming soon.
Parting letter In 2007, the
Provo Daily Herald published an open letter from Dutcher on its editorial page where he announced, "I am no longer a practicing member of the church." He explained that he had taken a spiritual journey that, "may ultimately prove incompatible with Mormon orthodoxy." He hoped to explore human spirituality in film more broadly, but like early church leader
Oliver Cowdery, someday he might return to the faith. Dutcher lamented that
Mormon cinema was dying from too many shallow, poor-quality films trying to "make a few bucks." He urged Mormon cinema to abandon "moronic," unfunny comedies that rely too much on self-mockery, and family films, which often lack any valuable meaning. He felt that
church-produced movies fail to "share ... the beauty and power of Mormonism," and are instead "polite, remedial and not-so-factual recitations of Mormon History and scripture." The potential of Mormon cinema was still unappreciated and untapped. Dutcher thought the market could be revived by reintroducing well-crafted films that explore the great depths of Mormon themes and experience. Rather than just making "clean" movies, free from violence and vulgarity, Dutcher said, "It is better to tell an R-rated truth than a G-rated lie." This letter provoked strong criticism from some LDS Church members, most notably
Kieth Merrill, a Mormon filmmaker whose work was included in Dutcher's criticisms. In his fiery reaction, Merrill claimed Dutcher was arrogantly ignoring the importance of social and spiritual values. Merrill saw Dutcher as attacking LDS cinema because of the poor response to his latest films. Two days later, in a
letter to the editor, Merrill apologized for his harsh criticisms, regretted the loss of Dutcher, and wished him well in his future.
Film plans Dutcher at one point was planning to direct
Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, a film about the life of the early LDS
prophet. While Dutcher did not specifically comment on his plans for his movie on Joseph Smith in his "Parting words" letter, Dutcher did state that he will no longer be making Mormon films. Dutcher's film
Falling, was released January 18, 2008 at a single Salt Lake City theater, and later shopped to art-house theaters, where he did not expect to make back the film's money. Dutcher's 'Parting words' letter suggests that these and future movies may be spiritually based but not Mormon-related. == Filmography ==