JEFFREY SCHWARZ
Founder & President of Automat Pictures
Jeffrey Schwarz is an Emmy Award-winning producer, director, and editor known for an extensive body of non-fiction work. His latest feature documentary is Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders, about the contentious making of William Friedkin‘s Cruising and the shocking crimes that inspired it. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June 2026.
His previous film, Commitment to Life, chronicles Los Angeles’ response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and premiered on NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Prior work includes Boulevard! A Hollywood Story (2021), about Gloria Swanson’s attempt to adapt Sunset Boulevard into a musical; The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017), about the flamboyant producer of Grease and La Cage Aux Folles; Tab Hunter Confidential (2015), a biographical portrait of the 1950s screen heartthrob; I Am Divine (2013), about the international drag superstar and John Waters‘ leading lady; and HBO Documentary Films‘ Vito (2011), the Emmy-winning portrait of gay activist Vito Russo, which received a 2013 News and Documentary Emmy Award and a 2013 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary. Earlier films include Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon (2008) and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, which won the 2007 AFI Fest Documentary Audience Award and aired on Turner Classic Movies.
“Schwarz has a unique ability to capture
the essence of the human spirit.”
“Schwarz has a unique ability
to capture the essence
of the human spirit.”
— Manila Bulletin
Schwarz is executive producer of Hollywood Black (2024), the Emmy-nominated four-part limited series directed by Justin Simien, executive produced by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi, and produced by RadicalMedia (Summer of Soul) and MGM+. Inspired by historian Donald Bogle’s book of the same name, the series chronicles a century of the Black experience in Hollywood, unearthing personal stories from actors, writers, directors, and producers who fought for their place on the page, behind the camera, and on the screen. Featuring interviews with Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Cynthia Erivo, Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield, Boots Riley, W. Kamau Bell, Lena Waithe, and Reginald Hudlin, among others, Hollywood Black won the 2025 Independent Spirit Award for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series.
Jeffrey Schwarz (photo: Tommy Lau)
Schwarz has served in various producing capacities on Ron Nyswaner‘s She‘s the Best Thing In It (2015), Mike Stabile’s Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story (2015), Elijah Drenner‘s That Guy Dick Miller (2014), Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman‘s And the Oscar Goes To (2014), Lisa Dapolito and CNN Films’ Love Gilda (2018), and Jennifer Kroot‘s The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (2017). He served as consulting producer on Ilya Chaiken’s Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks (2026).
Schwarz appeared in The Advocate’s “Out 100” in 2013, and in 2015 was presented with the Frameline Award by San Francisco‘s Frameline Film Festival, which honors those who have made a significant contribution to LGBTQ+ representation in film, television, and media arts. Previous honorees include Vito Russo, Divine, Rob Epstein, Christine Vachon, Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato, Gregg Araki, Margaret Cho, George Takei, and Alan Cumming.
Schwarz is executive producer of Hollywood Black (2024), the Emmy-nominated four-part limited series directed by Justin Simien, executive produced by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi, and produced by RadicalMedia (Summer of Soul) and MGM+. Inspired by historian Donald Bogle’s book of the same name, the series chronicles a century of the Black experience in Hollywood, unearthing personal stories from actors, writers, directors, and producers who fought for their place on the page, behind the camera, and on the screen. Featuring interviews with Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Cynthia Erivo, Issa Rae, LaKeith Stanfield, Boots Riley, W. Kamau Bell, Lena Waithe, and Reginald Hudlin, among others, Hollywood Black won the 2025 Independent Spirit Award for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series.
Jeffrey Schwarz (photo: Tommy Lau)
Schwarz has served in various producing capacities on Ron Nyswaner‘s She‘s the Best Thing In It (2015), Mike Stabile’s Seed Money: The Chuck Holmes Story (2015), Elijah Drenner‘s That Guy Dick Miller (2014), Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman‘s And the Oscar Goes To (2014), Lisa Dapolito and CNN Films’ Love Gilda (2018), and Jennifer Kroot‘s The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (2017). He served as consulting producer on Ilya Chaiken’s Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks (2026).
Schwarz appeared in The Advocate’s “Out 100” in 2013, and in 2015 was presented with the Frameline Award by San Francisco‘s Frameline Film Festival, which honors those who have made a significant contribution to LGBTQ representation in film, television, and media arts. Previous honorees include Vito Russo, Divine, Rob Epstein, Christine Vachon, Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato, Gregg Araki, Margaret Cho, George Takei, and Alan Cumming.
“One of our most prolific nonfiction filmmakers.”
— Twin Cities Pioneer Press
Before establishing himself as a documentary filmmaker, Schwarz was a pioneer in the field of DVD bonus content. When the DVD format emerged in the late 1990s, it transformed the way audiences engaged with movies. For the first time, a single disc could contain not just a film but an entire world surrounding it — behind-the-scenes documentaries, director commentaries, deleted scenes, and interactive menus. Studios needed producers who could craft compelling documentary material for their back catalogues and new releases alike, and Schwarz became one of the leading figures in the field. With his team at Automat Pictures, he went on to create bonus content for dozens of DVD and Blu-ray releases across every major studio, and collaborated with a range of acclaimed directors including Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, John Waters, Ron Howard, Wes Craven, Rob Reiner, Joe Dante, Jon Favreau, Barry Sonnenfeld, Adam Shankman, Paul Verhoeven, John Carpenter, Chris Columbus, Nora Ephron, Wim Wenders, Sidney Lumet, and the Coen Brothers.
A New York native, Schwarz is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase Film Department. His senior thesis documentary, Al Lewis in the Flesh, profiled Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis and sparked a lasting interest in films about popular culture and celebrities. His first job in the industry was as an apprentice editor on The Celluloid Closet, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s film adaptation of Vito Russo’s seminal book — a connection that would lead directly to his own documentary about Russo.
