Jeffrey Schwarz
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Schwarz is President & CEO of Automat Pictures
, a Los Angeles
based entertainment company specializing in the production of studio EPKs (electronic press kits), Blu-ray and DVD
content, original television programming, and feature films.
Jeffrey launched Automat
in the early days of the DVD
format, realizing the potential for compelling documentary
programming in the tried-and true "behind the scenes" genre. He has since contributed to the success of dozens of major studio DVD releases for directors such as Martin Scorsese
, David Lynch
, Jonathan Demme
, Ron Howard
, Sam Mendes
, Wes Craven
, Rob Reiner
, Joe Dante
, Barry Sonnenfeld
, Paul Verhoeven, John Carpenter
, Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
, the Coen Brothers
, Sidney Lumet
, and many more. Jeffrey's documentary People Like Us: Making Philadelphia
, premiered at the 2003 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Schwarz also executive produced Whether You Like It Or Not: The Story of Hedwig, (Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
) which enjoyed a run at film festivals around the world. "No Day But Today: The Story of Rent (musical)
" was featured on the DVD release of that musical's feature film adaptation, Rent (film)
.
Television productions include Starz (TV channel)'s "Sex and the Cinema," a look at sexuality on film, "In the Gutter," a history of the gross-out movie, "Hitchcocked!," a tribute to the artistry of Alfred Hitchcock
, and "Shooting the Police: Cops on Film." For the Independent Film Channel
he produced Reservoir Dogs
Revisited, a celebration of Quentin Tarantino
's classic, and Still Swingin, a tribute to the indie classic Swingers
, as well as several episodes of HBO First Look
.
In 2008, Jeffrey premiered the GayVN award winning feature documentary Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon
, a portrait of 1970s adult film star Jack Wrangler
. It premiered at 2008's Newfest and is distributed by TLA Releasing
. It frequently airs on Logo (TV channel)
. Spine Tingler! The William Castle
Story, about the legendary Hollywood showman, premiered at the 2007 American Film Institute
's AFIFest and was awarded the Audience Award for Best Documentary among many other festival honors. It was released as part of the William Castle
box set in 2009 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
and in 2011 was released as a stand-alone Special Edition DVD.
In 2010, Automat Pictures
provided exclusive backstage content for the 82nd Academy Awards
produced by Adam Shankman
and Bill Mechanic
.
Schwarz's latest feature documentary is HBO Documentary Films' "Vito," about the life of Vito Russo
, gay activist, film scholar, and author of The Celluloid Closet
. It premiered at the 2011 New York Film Festival
. Future projects include feature documentaries on the lives of Divine ("I Am Divine") and Tab Hunter
("Tab Hunter Confidential"). Schwarz is also in development on Planet Kuchar, a narrative biopic about underground filmmaking legends George Kuchar
and Mike Kuchar
.
A New York
native, Jeffrey is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase Film Department, where he produced Al Lewis in the Flesh, a profile of Grampa Al Lewis, octogenarian star of TV's The Munsters
. This film observes the American pastime of celebrity adulation and led to Jeffrey's on-going interest in producing films about popular culture and Americana. His first job in the film industry was as an apprentice editor on The Celluloid Closet
, Rob Epstein
and [Jeffrey Friedman (filmmaker)]]’s film adaptation of Vito Russo
’s seminal book.
Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures is a multi-award winning entertainment production company based in Los Angeles, which specializes in EPK, Blu-ray and DVD Added Value, as well original television programming, web content and independent feature film production....
, a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
based entertainment company specializing in the production of studio EPKs (electronic press kits), Blu-ray and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
content, original television programming, and feature films.
Jeffrey launched Automat
Automat
An automat is a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink are served by coin-operated and bill-operated vending machines.-Concept:Originally, the machines took only nickels...
in the early days of the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
format, realizing the potential for compelling documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
programming in the tried-and true "behind the scenes" genre. He has since contributed to the success of dozens of major studio DVD releases for directors such as Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
, Jonathan Demme
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
, Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
, Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
, Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...
, Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
, Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
, Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He worked as cinematographer for the Coen brothers, then later he directed and produced big budget films such as Men in Black.-Life and career:...
, Paul Verhoeven, John Carpenter
John Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
, Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
, the Coen Brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
, Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, and many more. Jeffrey's documentary People Like Us: Making Philadelphia
Philadelphia (film)
Philadelphia is a 1993 American drama film that was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. The film stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington...
, premiered at the 2003 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Schwarz also executive produced Whether You Like It Or Not: The Story of Hedwig, (Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer. The text is by John Cameron Mitchell, and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask. The musical premiered in 1998 and has been performed throughout the world in hundreds...
) which enjoyed a run at film festivals around the world. "No Day But Today: The Story of Rent (musical)
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
" was featured on the DVD release of that musical's feature film adaptation, Rent (film)
Rent (film)
Rent is a 2005 American musical drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, in turn based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème. The film depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, cross-dressing, drugs, life...
.
Television productions include Starz (TV channel)'s "Sex and the Cinema," a look at sexuality on film, "In the Gutter," a history of the gross-out movie, "Hitchcocked!," a tribute to the artistry of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, and "Shooting the Police: Cops on Film." For the Independent Film Channel
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
he produced Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is an American crime film marking debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, but not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an ensemble cast: Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and...
Revisited, a celebration of Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's classic, and Still Swingin, a tribute to the indie classic Swingers
Swingers (1996 film)
Swingers is a 1996 comedy-drama film about the lives of single, unemployed actors living on the 'eastside' of Hollywood, California during the 1990s swing revival...
, as well as several episodes of HBO First Look
HBO First Look
HBO First Look is an American television show on HBO that chronicles up and coming movies. It first started in 1992 with a documentary on A League of Their Own starring Tom Hanks, and still airs today. The series shows behind-the-scenes looks at the filming and interviews with the actors. The show...
.
In 2008, Jeffrey premiered the GayVN award winning feature documentary Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon
Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon
Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a 2008 feature documentary film about the life of Jack Wrangler, produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of Automat Pictures...
, a portrait of 1970s adult film star Jack Wrangler
Jack Wrangler
Jack Wrangler was an American actor of gay and straight adult film, theatrical producer, and director. Open about his homosexuality and adult film work throughout his career, Wrangler was considered an icon of the gay-liberation movement.In 2008, a feature-length documentary film, Wrangler:...
. It premiered at 2008's Newfest and is distributed by TLA Releasing
TLA Releasing
TLA Releasing is a US film distribution company owned by TLA Entertainment Group. In March 2011, a new LLC was formed for the operation. Its primary output is LGBT-related films from all over the world under the "TLA Releasing" label, as well as horror films under the label "Danger After Dark"...
. It frequently airs on Logo (TV channel)
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
. Spine Tingler! The William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
Story, about the legendary Hollywood showman, premiered at the 2007 American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
's AFIFest and was awarded the Audience Award for Best Documentary among many other festival honors. It was released as part of the William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
box set in 2009 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
and in 2011 was released as a stand-alone Special Edition DVD.
In 2010, Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures
Automat Pictures is a multi-award winning entertainment production company based in Los Angeles, which specializes in EPK, Blu-ray and DVD Added Value, as well original television programming, web content and independent feature film production....
provided exclusive backstage content for the 82nd Academy Awards
82nd Academy Awards
The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , honored the best films of 2009 and took place March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after...
produced by Adam Shankman
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
and Bill Mechanic
Bill Mechanic
Bill Mechanic was chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment from 1994 to 2000. He oversaw all operations of the studio including worldwide feature film production, marketing and distribution activities; as well as all worldwide operations for Fox Video, Fox Interactive,...
.
Schwarz's latest feature documentary is HBO Documentary Films' "Vito," about the life of Vito Russo
Vito Russo
Vito Russo was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet ....
, gay activist, film scholar, and author of The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
. It premiered at the 2011 New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
. Future projects include feature documentaries on the lives of Divine ("I Am Divine") and Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter is an American actor, singer, former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major films.-Background:...
("Tab Hunter Confidential"). Schwarz is also in development on Planet Kuchar, a narrative biopic about underground filmmaking legends George Kuchar
George Kuchar
George Kuchar was an American underground film director, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic.-Early life and career:...
and Mike Kuchar
Mike Kuchar
Mike Kuchar is an American underground filmmaker and actor. Kuchar is notable for his low-budget and camp films such as Sins of the Fleshapoids and The Craven Sluck.-Biography:...
.
A New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
native, Jeffrey is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase Film Department, where he produced Al Lewis in the Flesh, a profile of Grampa Al Lewis, octogenarian star of TV's The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
. This film observes the American pastime of celebrity adulation and led to Jeffrey's on-going interest in producing films about popular culture and Americana. His first job in the film industry was as an apprentice editor on The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
, Rob Epstein
Rob Epstein
Rob Epstein, also credited as Robert P. Epstein, is a director, producer, writer and editor. Epstein has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature for the films The Times of Harvey Milk and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt....
and [Jeffrey Friedman (filmmaker)]]’s film adaptation of Vito Russo
Vito Russo
Vito Russo was an American LGBT activist, film historian and author who is best remembered as the author of the book The Celluloid Closet ....
’s seminal book.
External links
- Automat Pictures official site
- "I Am Divine" official site
- "I Am Divine" Facebook page
- "Vito" official site
- "Vito" Facebook page
- http://www.wranglermovie.comWrangler: Anatomy of an IconWrangler: Anatomy of an IconWrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a 2008 feature documentary film about the life of Jack Wrangler, produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of Automat Pictures...
official site] - http://www.facebook.com/WranglerMovieWrangler: Anatomy of an IconWrangler: Anatomy of an IconWrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a 2008 feature documentary film about the life of Jack Wrangler, produced and directed by Jeffrey Schwarz of Automat Pictures...
Facebook page] - http://www.spinetinglermovie.com"Spine Tingler! The William CastleWilliam CastleWilliam Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
Story" official site] - http://www.facebook.com/SpineTinglerMovie"Spine Tingler! The William CastleWilliam CastleWilliam Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
Story" Facebook page]