James W. Skotchdopole
James W. Skotchdopole is an American film producer. He won a 2015 Best Picture Academy Award for his work producing Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Skotchdopole's work on the film also resulted in an Independent Spirit Best Picture Award, a DGA Award, a PGA Award and a BAFTA Best Film Award nomination.
He again collaborated with Iñárritu and produced the 2016 feature The Revenant, which earned Iñárritu an Oscar for Best Director.
Currently, Skotchdopole is co-executive producing Kilter Films / Amazon's new series called The Peripheral, from the William Gibson novel of the same name. Prior to that, Skotchdopole co-executive produced as well as received an Emmy Award nomination for the limited series Mrs. America starring Cate Blanchett for FX Networks. As an executive producer, he also prepared the motion picture franchise Call of Duty for Activision. Prior to that, he executive produced War Machine, starring Brad Pitt for Netflix.
A native New Yorker, Skotchdopole has been making films for some 39 years. He has worked on over 50 feature films in 17 different countries, earning executive producer credits on Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained and Death Proof, and David O. Russell's Accidental Love.
Skotchdopole also executive produced four films for director Tony Scott: Man on Fire, Enemy of the State, The Fan, and Spy Game. Skotchdopole first worked with Scott in 1988 on Revenge, and later Days of Thunder, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, and Crimson Tide.
Skotchdopole collaborated with journalist, filmmaker and three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Nora Ephron, having worked many times as her executive producer and as an associate producer on the box-office hit Sleepless in Seattle.
In 1984, Skotchdopole was the youngest member to be accepted into the Directors Guild of America. He is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.
The surname "Skotchdopole" has Czech origin, and it means "Jump into field".
Filmography
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.
Film
| Year | Film | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Naked Tango | Associate producer |
| 1993 | Sleepless in Seattle | Associate producer |
| True Romance | Co-producer | |
| 1994 | Mixed Nuts | Executive producer |
| 1995 | Crimson Tide | Associate producer |
| 1996 | The Fan | Executive producer |
| 1998 | Enemy of the State | Executive producer |
| 2000 | Company Man | |
| Sand | ||
| 2001 | Spy Game | Executive producer |
| 2004 | Man on Fire | Executive producer |
| 2005 | Bewitched | Executive producer |
| 2007 | Grindhouse | Line producer |
| Death Proof | Line producer | |
| 2008 | The Women | Executive producer |
| Surfer, Dude | Executive producer | |
| 2010 | My Own Love Song | Executive producer |
| 2011 | Violet & Daisy | Executive producer |
| 2012 | Lay the Favorite | Executive producer |
| Upside Down | Executive producer | |
| Django Unchained | Executive producer | |
| 2014 | Birdman | |
| 2015 | Accidental Love | Executive producer |
| The Revenant | ||
| 2017 | War Machine | Executive producer |
| 2018 | Furlough | Executive producer |
| 2021 | Crisis | Co-executive producer |
TBA | The Joy Division |
- Second unit director or assistant director
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Turk 182 | Second assistant director | |
| A Chorus Line | |||
| 1986 | The Money Pit | ||
| Brighton Beach Memoirs | |||
| 1987 | Mannequin | ||
| Ishtar | |||
| The Untouchables | |||
| The Believers | Second assistant director: New York | ||
| 1988 | Biloxi Blues | Second assistant director | |
| Moon over Parador | |||
| Scrooged | |||
| 1989 | Dead Bang | ||
| 1990 | Revenge | ||
| Days of Thunder | First assistant director | ||
| 1991 | What About Bob? | ||
| The Last Boy Scout | |||
| 1992 | Housesitter | ||
| 1993 | Sleepless in Seattle | ||
| True Romance | |||
| 1994 | Mixed Nuts | First assistant director Second unit director | Uncredited |
| 1995 | Crimson Tide | First assistant director | |
| 1996 | The Fan | ||
| 1998 | Enemy of the State | Second unit director | Uncredited |
| 2000 | Sand | Second assistant director | |
| 2001 | Spy Game | Second unit director | Uncredited |
| 2005 | Bewitched | ||
| 2008 | The Women |
- Production manager
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Spy Game | Unit production manager: Morocco |
| 2012 | Lay the Favorite | Unit production manager |
| Django Unchained | ||
| 2014 | Birdman | |
| 2015 | The Revenant |
- Miscellaneous crew
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Easy Money | Production assistant |
| Eddie and the Cruisers | ||
| A Night in Heaven | ||
| Slayground | ||
| 1984 | The Lonely Guy | |
| Firstborn | ||
| The Cotton Club | ||
| 2010 | Just Wright | Production consultant |
- Thanks
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Spectacular Now | The producers wish to thank |
| 2016 | The Comedian | The producers wish to thank the following for their assistance |
Television
| Year | Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Mrs. America | Co-executive producer |
| 2022 | The Peripheral | Co-executive producer |
- Production manager
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Mrs. America | Unit production manager |
- Miscellaneous crew
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | A Doctor's Story | Production assistant | Television film |
References
External links
- James W. Skotchdopole at IMDb
- Strauss, Jordan (February 23, 2015). "James W. Skotchdopole, Sean Penn, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, John Lesher". havasunews.com. Retrieved February 23, 2015.</ref>