In 1994, Cutler and co-director/producer David Van Taylor spent eleven months following the U.S. Senate campaign of Lt. Col. Oliver North who was running as a Republican to take the seat occupied by Democrat Charles S. Robb. North had risen to prominence as the key figure in the Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal. The cinema verite film they made, "A Perfect Candidate", featured access to both the North and Robb campaigns and told stories about non-candidates as well, including North strategist Mark Goodin, Washington Post reporters Don Baker and Peter Baker and Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter Mike Allen. "A Perfect Candidate" premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in April 1996 and was released theatrically by Seventh Art Releasing on June 19, 1996.