Born in Castro Valley, CA. From an early age, animals figured prominently in his life. A painter and sculptor, his studies took him to the Art Students League, NY, and he furthered his education with Robert Lougheed, Bob Kuhn, and George Carlson. From 1975 until 1984, he painted and sculpted big game at the Okanagan Game Farm, British Columbia, along with several other well-known North American and Canadian artists. These were formative years and instilled in him a lifelong love of observing and capturing the images and forms of nature. He has exhibited at the Autry Museum in Masters of the American West, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson art Museum, the Gilcrease Museum, and has been a member of the Society of Animal Artists since 1979. As an animator and creature technician, he entered American film with RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983). Other notable feature film credits include GREMLINS (1984), HOWARD THE DUCK and THE GOLDEN CHILD (both 1986), HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY and ROBOCOP (both 1987), WILLOW (1988), ROBOCOP 2 (1990), JURASSIC PARK (1993), 101 DALMATIANS (1996), and WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005). Dutra was determined to return to his first love, painting, after JURASSIC PARK. Steven Spielberg wanted him for THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997), but it took a few phone calls to convince Dutra to again abandon his carreer and return to film. He was making adjustments to the animation of THE LOST WORLD until just two weeks before the film was released.  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 1997: THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (w. Dennis Muren, Stan Winston & Michael Lantieri)  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 2005: WAR OF THE WORLDS (w.Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman & Daniel Sudick) 2 nominations