Jeffrey Schwarz
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Jeffrey Schwarz (born 1969) 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. Jeffrey has since contributed to the success of dozens of major studio DVD releases about such films as Sex and the City (film), Hairspray, Rent (film), The Silence of the Lambs (film), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Fargo, Basic Instinct, Blue Velvet (film), Raging Bull, Footloose (1984 film) 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, which enjoyed a run at film festivals around the world.
In television, Schwarz brought Reservoir Dogs Revisited, a celebration of Quentin Tarantino's classic, Still Swingin, a tribute to the indie classic Swingers, to the Independent Film Channel, as well as several episodes of HBO First Look. More recently, Starz (TV channel) presented "Sex and the Cinema," "In the Gutter," about the history of the grossout movie, and two original Automat documentaries, Shooting the Police: Cops on Film and Hitchcocked! Schwarz's first narrative feature film as producer, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds, was produced in association with Ariztical Entertainment and received its theatrical premiere in 2006.
In 2008, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon, a documentary portrait of 1970s porn legend Jack Wrangler, premiered at Newfest and is being distributed by TLA Releasing. It frequently airs on Logo (TV channel). Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story premiered at the 2007 AFI Fest and was awarded the Audience Award for Best Documentary. 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.
Schwarz is currently in production on "Vito," about the life of the Vito Russo, author of The Celluloid Closet. 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.
