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Jeffrey Schwarz is the President & CEO of Automat
Pictures, a multi-award winning DVD Added Value and EPK (electronic
press kit) production company, whose clients include many of the
major motion picture studios. Widely recognized as one of the
entertainment industry’s leading producers of original DVD
content, Jeffrey has contributed to the home video sales successes
of dozens of high profile releases.
A New York native, Jeffrey attended SUNY Purchase's
Film Department, earning a BFA in Film. At SUNY, Jeffrey studied
both narrative and documentary filmmaking, and produced films
in both genres. His senior thesis project was the documentary
"Al Lewis In The Flesh," which profiled Al "Grampa"
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.
In l998, Jeffrey was hired to edit, shoot and associate
produce “Psycho Path,” a documentary about the making
of Gus Van Sant’s controversial “Psycho” remake.
"Psycho Path" appeared on Universal’s DVD release
of "Psycho," which led Jeffrey to pursue making-of documentaries
for the then emerging DVD market. The year “Psycho”
was released was also the year that the now ubiquitous DVD format
was first embraced by American consumers. Jeffrey was next hired
by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment to produce original featurettes
for William Castle's "The Tingler," and Tom Savini's
remake of "Night of the Living Dead." Jeffrey's work
on these releases was so well received, he was next asked to produce
the highly anticipated DVD Special Edition of Ivan Reitman's animated
cult classic, "Heavy Metal." Having secured a niche
for himself in this new frontier, Jeffrey was solicited by other
studios looking to capitalize on their home video libraries. He
was retained by 20th Century Fox to produce the audio commentary
for "There's Something About Mary," and by MGM to produce
the comedy blockbuster "This is Spinal Tap." Supplements
included the now beloved audio commentary, which the cast recorded
as their Spinal Tap characters. MGM projects that followed included
"The Silence of the Lambs," "When Harry Met Sally,"
"Robocop," and "The Princess Bride." Next,
New Line Home Entertainment approached Jeffrey to produce "Final
Destination," which led to many more projects with that maverick
studio.
Realizing the potential in the DVD production business,
and to keep up with the demand for his services, Jeffrey founded
Automat Pictures in 2000. The company would specialize in the
production of DVD Value Added material used to augment major studio
DVD releases. The company went on to produce EPK and DVD content
for such titles as “Snakes on a Plane,” “The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Elf,” “The
Punisher,” “Men in Black II,” the Rambo trilogy,
and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”
Included on many of the DVD titles he has produced
have been original documentaries that Jeffrey conceived and directed.
Among these are “No Day But Today: The Story of Rent,”
“Blonde Poison: The Making of Basic Instinct,” “inside
of the Labyrinth: The Making of The Silence of the Lambs,”
“How Harry Met Sally,” “Minnesota Nice,”
about Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Fargo,” “Mysteries
of Love,” profiling David Lynch’s masterpiece “Blue
Velvet,” “Chainsaw Redux: Making a Massacre,”
about Michael Bay’s remake of the cult classic, and “Meet
Bob Shaye,” a corporate history and profile of New Line
Cinema’s founder. Jeffrey’s documentary, “People
Like Us: Making Philadelphia,” premiered at the 2003 San
Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations
of Automat Pictures, Jeffrey is also in production on several
independent documentary features. Among them are “Spine
Tingler: The William Castle Story,” about the legendary
Hollywood showman, and “Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon,”
a portrait of 70s adult film star Jack Wrangler. Schwarz served
as Producer of the 2006 theatrical release “Eating Out 2:
Sloppy Seconds,” and is developing original feature films.
Among them is “Hold Me While I’m Naked,” a biopic
of notorious underground filmmaker George Kuchar. |
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Currently, Katy Leigh is producing EPK’s (electronic
press kits), television specials and DVD content for several upcoming
feature films including “Hairspray” with John Travolta,
“Fracture” starring Anthony Hopkins, and “Mr.
Woodcock” with Billy Bob Thornton, all to be released in
2007. For the “Snakes on a Plane” DVD which hit the
shelves in January ‘07, Katy Leigh produced both the theatrical
EPK as well as all of the added value content.
Prior to her promotion to a Staff Producer for Automat
Pictures, Katy Leigh was an associate producer on a number of
EPK’s, which helped to promote the films “Elf,”
“The Punisher,” and “Son of the Mask,”
as well as Universal’s “Jarhead.”
She also produced and directed a number of documentaries,
which appear on feature film DVD releases. These include titles
such as “Snakes on a Blog,” “Pure Venom: Making
Snakes on a Plane,” and “Meet the Reptiles”
on the “Snakes on a Plane” DVD, “Army of One:
Punisher Origins” and “Drawing Blood Bradstreet
Style” on “The Punisher” DVD, and “Santa
Mania” on the “Elf” DVD.
In addition, Katy served as an Associate Producer
on a number of Automat’s television projects, including
the HBO First Look shows, “Jarhead,” “Son of
the Mask: More Mischief, More Mayhem, More Magic” and the
IFC TV specials “Still Swingin’: A Look Back at an
Indie Classic,” and “Reservoir Dogs Revisited.”
Prior to joining Automat in 2002, Katy worked as
an Associate Producer at Visty/Brennan Productions, where her
projects included the four-part one-hour series, “Death
By Natural Causes,” and the one-hour special, “Facing
The Flames,” for the National Geographic International Channel.
Katy Leigh is a graduate of the University of Southern
California where she received a B.A. in Visual Anthropology. |
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A true jack-of-all-trades, Taryn Teigue has worn
many hats at Automat Pictures. Since joining the company in 2003,
she has served as intern, office manager, production assistant,
researcher and currently is an associate producer. She oversees
many facets of production, including research, coordinating shoots
and locations, travel arrangements, clearance, and countless other
responsibilities.
While still an undergraduate at South Carolina’s
Francis Marion University, Taryn developed and produced an episode
of “The Focus Show” for a local news station in Florence,
SC. After graduating with a B.A. in Mass Communications, she has
served in several different areas of the entertainment industry,
including On-Set Key Production Assistant for Media Masters, Inc.
in 2002. Taryn has developed skills in virtually every aspect
of production, giving her a broad technical knowledge she still
utilizes today. The following year, she would segway into public
relations, as an executive assistant at Susan Bejeckian Public
Relations in Alhambra, CA. There, Taryn developed media press
kits and CD-ROMs while pitching major media outlets. She helped
generate publicity for both local and national news shows, talk
shows, as well as major newspapers and magazines.
Taryn’s technical knowledge and industry savvy
make her a versatile producer who has helped contribute to the
success of Automat Pictures. |
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