He worked as a writer, director, and executive producer on The Shield, and appeared on the show as hitman Margos Dezerian.

on FX; he wrote, produced, and directed the series, as well as played incarcerated club member Otto Delaney.

Sutter spent time with members of an outlaw motorcycle club in Northern California as research for Sons of Anarchy.

[2] Sutter's wife, actress Katey Sagal, played main character Gemma Teller.

His father worked at the General Motors plant in Linden, New Jersey, and his mother was a secretary for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.

He made his television acting debut with the episode "Blowback", in which he appeared as Armenian mob hitman Margos Dezerian.

He co-wrote the episodes "Dragonchasers" and "Two Days of Blood" with fellow staff writer Scott Rosenbaum, and was promoted to story editor for the second season in 2003.

He wrote the episodes "Scar Tissue" and "Dead Soldiers" and in 2004, joined the production team in the junior role of co-producer for the third season.

At the close of the season he was the series' second most prolific writer (after Ryan), having written or co-written 18 episodes in total.

The show centers on the titular motorcycle club in a fictitious town called Charming in California.

Sutter also hired several crew members whom he had worked with on The Shield, including unit production manager and producer Kevin G. Cremin, post-production supervisor and producer Craig Yahata, and directors Guy Ferland, Stephen Kay, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Paris Barclay, Terrence O'Hara, and Billy Gierhart.

[4] This is a trend that continued in later seasons with the majority of the main cast of The Shield appearing in later episodes in a variety of different roles.

In October 2019, Sutter was fired from FX after multiple complaints were lodged against him about his "abrasive" and "unprofessional" behavior.

[20] Sutter has stated he's had multiple influences in his writing style, including William Shakespeare, specifically his play Hamlet.

Other cultural influences include Mad Magazine, Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and the television show Hill Street Blues, among others.

[3] Sutter married actress Katey Sagal in a private ceremony on October 2, 2004, at their home in Los Feliz, California.