ABOUT AUTOMAT PICTURES
Creating award-winning, critically-acclaimed film and programming for over twenty years.
ABOUT AUTOMAT PICTURES
Creating award-winning, critically-acclaimed film and programming for over twenty years.
Automat Pictures is a Los Angeles-based production company that specializes in the creation of documentary feature films, original long-form programming, and creative content. Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey Schwarz, the company has established itself as a leading provider of non-fiction entertainment for the theatrical, home entertainment, streaming and broadcast markets.
Jeffrey Schwarz and crew interviewing Tab Hunter
In 2007, Automat Pictures released its first documentary feature, Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, which won the AFIFest Audience Award and set into motion a series of award-winning independent documentaries produced by the company. Subsequent features include Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon (2008), a portrait of 1970s adult film star Jack Wrangler; the Emmy-winning HBO Documentary Films’ Vito (2011), about beloved gay activist and author Vito Russo; I Am Divine (2013), a celebration of John Waters’ muse; Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), featuring the 1950s screen heartthrob recounting his life story; and The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017), about the flamboyant producer of Grease and La Cage Aux Folles. Automat’s latest documentary is Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, about Gloria Swanson’s attempt to make Sunset Boulevard into a musical and the resulting threesome with her songwriters. It premiered at Los Angeles Outfest in 2021.
Automat was founded in the early days of the DVD format, and pioneered the production of value added material (VAM) for all the major studios. Schwarz and a team of skilled producers created bonus content for over 100 major DVD and Blu-ray titles, and soon expanded into the production of studio EPKs (electronic press kits) and original television programming. Notable releases include Raging Bull, The Silence of the Lambs, Blue Velvet, This is Spinal Tap, Philadelphia, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Jarhead, When Harry Met Sally, Footloose, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Princess Bride, Fargo, Hairspray, Up in the Air, The Bucket List, Sex and the City and all six films in the Resident Evil franchise. Automat Pictures also produced behind the scenes content for the 2010 Academy Awards, supervised by producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman. Television productions include specials for IFC, Starz, Encore, and several episodes of HBO First Look.
With a slate of high profile documentary features, long-form series, and scripted projects currently in production and development, Automat Pictures looks toward an exciting future within the ever-shifting landscape of entertainment.
