James A. Butler
James was born in Cleveland, Ohio at a very young age, and his mother was in attendance. He began his career working on Family Guy and later served as a writer-producer on the Animaniacs / Pinky and the Brain reboot for Steven Spielberg’s production banner, Amblin, Hulu, and Warner Bros.
Most recently, he sold an original action-comedy feature screenplay to Confluential Films and is developing a series with Michael Eisner’s production company, Tornante. He has also developed and sold projects with MTV, Comedy Central, Sony, and Warner Bros., working across both television and film in animation and live-action comedy.
James currently resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife, daughter, and two dogs. When he’s not writing his own bio in the third person, he can typically be found enjoying fine fried foods accompanied by an effervescent bread water.
It’s not just my mom who likes my stuff.
Career Snapshot
Television
Career started by working on the long-running animated series, Family Guy.
Worked alongside Showrunner David A. Goodman (former Writers Guild of America President) on Seth MacFarlane’s beloved sci-fi series, The Orville.
Sold an animated series to MTV with Christina Aguilera’s production company producing.
Sold an animated project to Comedy Central.
Developed an animated adaptation of an Indian series with Sony.
Writer-producer on the Emmy-award winning reboot of The Animaniacs / Pinky & The Brain that streams on Hulu and was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Steven Spielberg’s production banner, Amblin.
Most recently is developing a live-action series with Michael Eisner’s production house, The Tornante Company.
Film
Sold an original action-comedy feature film screenplay to Confluential Films.
Currently pitching a feature film reboot of a beloved film from the 80s to Netflix.
Misc.
Wrote for the Family Guy Mobile App Game, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff which flexed his creative muscles in a narrative form with heavy advertisement focus.
Wrote several episodes for the children’s educational podcast, Who Smarted?, showing versatility in writing from a visual to auditory medium.