Kermode and Mayo’s Take- December 28, 2023 - Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo
The Best and Worst Films of 2023
Documentaries: The Automat which I loved, In the Court of the Crimson King which I loved, Still: A Michael J Fox Film which I loved… Watch the Episode
Kermode and Mayo’s Take- November 10, 2023 - Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo
Mark Kermode Reviews The Automat
The Automat is reviewed by Kermode and Mayo… Watch the Episode
OlyFilm Podcast- August 20, 2023 - Russell Brooks
Lisa & Joaquin
Former Olympia Film Society Festival Director & Director of ‘The Automat’ The Movie Lisa Hurwitz, along with renowned Cinema Technician Joaquin de la Puente on the show to discuss everything from her groundbreaking documentary ‘The Automat’ to Joaquin’s vast experience in film projection, musings on the project, industry insight and more.. …Listen to the Podcast
Women in Food- June 20, 2023 - Missy Singer DuMars
Lessons from The Automat + Mac & Cheese
Learn about her beginnings in the intersection of food and film to how [Lisa’s] brought her first feature film to life as a woman in the film industry. .…Listen to the Podcast
TV Confidential - April 10, 2023 - Greg Ehrbar
The Automat on DVD
Greg Ehrbar discusses The Automat, a charming documentary featuring Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and General Colin Powell. The Automat is available now on DVD through Kino Lorber.…Listen to the Podcast
The Philadelphia Inquirer - December 31, 2022 - Kevin Riordan
Local artisans restore Horn & Hardart windows as the Philly-born Automat Chain Savors a Moment
A documentary film and restoration of stained-glass windows by two Philadelphia artisans attest to the enduring appeal of the Horn & Hardart automats…Horn & Hardart’s vision inspired filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz to make The Automat. Featuring interviews with comedian Mel Brooks and former Philly Mayor Wilson Goode as well as Hollywood film clips attesting to the cachet that stylish Automats once possessed, Hurwitz’s documentary had a long run at the city’s Ritz Five theater last spring and received four nominations for Critics Choice Awards in 2022… Read More
Awards Watch - November 14th, 2022 - Andrew Carden
2023 Oscars: EGOT winner Mel Brooks (‘At the Automat’) back in the awards hunt with Best Original Song Bid
At age 96, Brooks is active as ever and, nearly five decades since his last nomination, back in the Oscar conversation with a Best Original Song bid for “At the Automat,” a tune he composed for the documentary feature The Automat… Read More
Deadline - October 17, 2022 - Pete Hammond
2022 Critics Choice Documentary Awards
Nominees for Best Docu Feature include Hulu/Onyx Collective’s Aftershock; The Automat…Films earning three or more nominations include The Automat … Read More
Variety - October 17, 2022 - Clayton Davis
2022 Critics Choice Documentary Award Nominations Announced
Nominations for Best Documentary Feature include The Automat… Read More
Fort Worth Report - July 31, 2022 - Joe Friar
‘The Automat’ documentary screens today at the Texas Theatre followed by an on-screen Q&A with director Lisa Hurwitz
The Automat restaurants became a staple for millions of New Yorkers and Philadelphians during the early 20th century. Director Lisa Hurwitz examines the culinary sensation by interviewing celebrities who share their cherished memories including Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, and Mel Brooks who wrote a song for the documentary… Read More
2 Movie Jews - July 18, 2022 - Jodi Berman and Yechiel Hoffman
The Automat: Interview with Lisa Hurwitz
After a brief hiatus for summer & Covid, 2 Movie Jews returns with a first for the podcast. Jodi and Yechiel interview Lisa Hurwitz, the first time filmmaker of the grassroots smash success, The Automat. In this interview, Lisa reflects upon her journey as a first time documentary filmmakers, her inspirations, what it was like to work with Mel Brooks and others stars. She discusses the power of telling a story about community and a city she loves and now calls home … Listen to the Podcast
Planning Magazine - June 30, 2022 - Ezra Haber Glenn
New Restaurant Documentary 'The Automat' Offers a Taste of Urban History
This history is the subject of The Automat, a heartwarming new documentary from director Lisa Hurwitz. It's a beautiful love letter to a bygone era and way of life that manages, in retrospect, to come across as both sophisticated and quaint. Rooted in an unprecedented period of urban expansion and development, the story of the Automat and the Horn & Hardart legacy is intimately connected with the history of the American city itself … Read More
The San-Diego Union Tribune - June 2, 2022 - Gary Goldstien
Review: Loving nostalgia suffuses ‘The Automat,’ a documentary about Horn & Hardart restaurants
Producer-director Lisa Hurwitz … efficiently tracks Horn & Hardart’s lofty history via compelling, often amusing interviews with such notables as Mel Brooks (at his most charming; he also wrote the film’s theme song), Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Colin Powell and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who recall fond memories of their younger days frequenting the automat.… Read More
WGBH Boston - May 16, 2022 - Jim Braude
Remembering The Automat
In a new documentary, filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz looks back on the beloved restaurant chain Horn and Hardart's. For a generation, their Automats were staples for New Yorkers and Philadelphians alike. Hurwitz joined Jim Braude to discuss her film all about it, called "The Automat." Watch Interview
The Boston Globe - May 12, 2022 - Mark Feeney
‘The Automat’: A tribute to ‘the house that nickels built’
Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary is a very loving tribute to the fabled Horn & Hardart restaurant chain, which flourished in New York and Philadelphia for much of the 20th century. The Automat was “the house that nickels built.” Customers would be presented with an array of dining choices, each visible behind a set of small, gridded glass doors. They were like cubbyholes for cuisine. Customers fed their coins into a slot next to the door, pulled a small knob, and took out their purchase…“That was the great thing about the Automat,” says Mel Brooks, a big fan. “You needed a lot of nickels. You didn’t need a lot of money.”…Read More
The Nashville Edge - April 7, 2022 - Cory Woodroof
The Automat Is a Touching Tribute to a Bygone Restaurant Chain
The way Mel Brooks talks about a piece of pie? That alone is worth the price of admission for the new documentary The Automat. Director Lisa Hurwitz’s film explains how Horn & Hardart took over major metropolitan areas like New York and Philadelphia in the early 1900s, and does so with a careful power. It wields its nostalgia in a warm, inviting manner…Read More
The Washington Post - April 5, 2022 - Ann Hornaday
‘The Automat’ Documentary Looks Back Fondly on a Defunct Eatery
Constituencies will be gratified by Lisa Hurwitz’s crisp, straightforward documentary, which tells the story of a bygone and beloved institution that revolutionized dining and embodied American ideals at their most egalitarian and pluralistic … In “The Automat,” Hurwitz and writer Michael Levine trace the rise and fall of Horn & Hardart, illuminating not just a surprisingly compelling corporate history, but a facet of American culture that feels both brimmingly optimistic and thoroughly extinct…Read More
The Chicago Tribune - April 2, 2022 - Michael Philipps
Review: ‘The Automat,’ a Tasty Slice of Nostalgia to go with that Pie
True to the egalitarian allure of the restaurant chain itself, Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary “The Automat” is both a touching farewell and a fond hello-again for those old enough to remember the salisbury steak, creamed spinach and peach pie behind those little windows of nickel-fed discovery. The documentary, several years and many Kickstarter donors in the making, tells the story of a 20th Century dining phenomenon particular to New York City and Philadelphia: the Horn & Hardart restaurants popularly known, especially in New York, as the Automat…Read More
Roger Ebert - March 25, 2022 - Glenn Kenny
The Automat
Even if this documentary directed by Lisa Hurwitz had nothing else to recommend it, it would be worthwhile as an excellent source of Mel Brooks … “The Automat” is a tribute to what once was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, despite the fact that it only operated in two cities…Hurwitz offers vintage film clips of celebs from Jack Benny and Sylvia Sidney to Bugs Bunny enjoying a meal there…Read More
The Stranger - March 23, 2022 - Charles Mudede
The Automat, a Documentary About How the Suburbs Killed Good Food for the People
Utopias are easier to find in the past than they are in the future. This, I think, is the source of The Automat's greatness. The Lisa Hurwitz-directed documentary, which impressively runs at this year's Seattle Jewish Film Festival, is about a possibility that has already been realized—and it is the nature of time that makes the past more real than the future…Read More
The Seattle Times - March 21, 2022 - Misha Berson
From college cafeteria to Seattle film festival: ‘The Automat’ savors a bygone fast-food empire
“So I went to the school library and started doing research on cafeteria history, just for my own interest.” - A niche subject? Maybe, but for Hurwitz a delicious one. And it led to “The Automat,” her engaging, critically touted documentary film about the unique eatery that served bottomless cups of coffee, and plates of food from windowed cubicles…Read More
The Philadelphia Tribune - March 11, 2022 - Kathia Woods
New Documentary Revisits the Automat Dining Experience
Filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz brings a piece of Philadelphia history back to life with her film “The Automat.” The Automat was a dining experience that brought people from all social classes together to enjoy a meal out at a reasonable price…“The Automat” film will transport Philadelphians back to their childhood memories of receiving a roll of nickels and venturing into the exciting world of food. So, transport back to the world of open dining rooms, rolls of nickels, and great food behind an automated door when the film opens…Read More
Deadline - February 27, 2022 - Jill Goldsmith
‘At The Automat’ Original Song By Mel Brooks Strikes A Chord For New Doc On Iconic Eatery – Specialty Box Office
The film premiered in Telluride and the Film Forum offered a screen, where it opened last weekend to a hefty $18, 645. It’s added two more locations in LA for a weekend gross $13,665, $4,555 PSA, for a cume of $38,837. Hurwitz’ A Slice Of Pie Productions is self-distributing with the help of Gary Rubin/GRC. “It’s just what made the most sense based on the offers we were receiving to hold onto the film and to maximize it.”
KPCC - February 25, 2022 - Larry Mantle, Tim Cogshell, and Wade Major
FilmWeek: ‘Cyrano,’ ‘The Automat,’ ‘Servants’ And More
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Wade Major review this weekend’s new movie releases on streaming and on demand platforms...Listen to Review
The Los Angeles Times - February 24, 2022 - Gary Goldstein
Review: Loving nostalgia suffuses ‘The Automat,’ a documentary about Horn & Hardart restaurants
The documentary “The Automat” takes an affectionate — and affecting — look at the famed Horn & Hardart restaurant chain and its singular place in dining history. Producer-director Lisa Hurwitz shot the film from 2013 to 2021. She incorporated a treasure trove of archival material mainly from the early to mid 20th century into an enjoyable retelling of how the automat found its way into America’s hearts, minds and stomachs…Read More
Filmmaker Magazine - February 20, 2022 - Amy Taubin
A Restaurant’s Democratic Promise: Director Lisa Hurwitz and Her Doc, The Automat
The Automat, which was for decades the largest and most profitable restaurant chain in the US, only existed in two cities, New York and Philadelphia, both cosmopolitan in the sense of their diversity, and both home to a large working class striving to join an energetic, proud middle class. What’s best about Hurwitz’s film are the connections made between the rise and fall of the Automat and larger changes in 20th-century America — in its economy, social values and political power…Read More
Observer Magazine - February 19, 2022 - Rex Reed
‘The Automat’ Was the Coin-Operated Restaurant of the People
This enjoyable movie gets to the core of the Automat’s significance, cutting to the core of its social impact on New York and the changing world we live in. Mel Brooks sums it up best: “It had some style and it was different. The marble, the brass, the polished floors, the chatter, the coffee…that was the Automat…Read More
The New York Times - February 18, 2022 - Nicolas Rapold
‘The Automat,’ Where Dining Out Was D.I.Y.
Lisa Hurwitz’s detailed documentary, “The Automat” (in theaters), toasts Horn & Hardart’s storied chain of restaurants, where comfort-food dishes perched in coin-operated glass boxes lining the walls. Sort of like a mailroom, but with delicious pie and soup instead of bills… The film, Hurwitz’s debut feature, teems with historical detail and varied interviews (including all of the above fans plus Mel Brooks, in a movie-length swoon)…Read More
The New Yorker - February 18, 2022 - Richard Brody
“The Automat” Is a Guide to the Wonders of Mid-Twentieth-Century Urbanism
The high style of movies such as “The French Dispatch,” “Zola,” and “Strawberry Mansion” is more than a matter of décor; their performances are stylized because style is as much a way of life as it is a visual delight. In Lisa Hurwitz’s new documentary, “The Automat,” which opens today at Film Forum, the equation is surprisingly reversed: it spotlights the enduring power of everyday, street-level style. The subject is a piece of New York (and Philadelphia) nostalgia: the once ubiquitous self-service Horn & Hardart restaurants that, as Hurwitz’s film makes clear, were as noteworthy for their décor and their social life as for their inexpensive but tasty food. (I speak from personal childhood memory…Read More
Time Magazine - February 18, 2022 - Stephanie Zacharek
The Automat Traces the History of a Beloved Restaurant Chain, With Mel Brooks as a Guide
Even if you’ve never had the pleasure of eating in an Automat, Hurwitz brings the experience to life. She also traces the rise and fall of this mini-chain as an indication of the changing habits of diners, and ordinary citizens, across nearly the span of the 20th century. And, best of all, she gets Mel Brooks on camera, waxing poetic about his Brooklyn childhood and, specifically, his love for the Automat. What more do you want from a documentary?…Read More
Salon Magazine - February 17, 2022 - Gary M. Kramer
Director on the appeal of "The Automat," which was "the coolest cafeteria of them all"
Lisa Hurwitz's charming documentary, "The Automat," exudes nostalgia for Horn & Hardart's remarkable restaurant chain that has customers put nickels in slots to secure everything from fresh sandwiches and entrees like Salisbury steak, to cakes and pies, and coffee … Hurwitz's film shows that the Automat's success was based not only on the efforts and principles of its owners, Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, but also their commitment to provide good quality food at cheap prices…Read More
The Wall Street Journal - February 17, 2022 - Joe Morgenstern
‘The Automat’ Review: A Documentary Feast
When a relatively unheralded documentary contains interviews with Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elliott Gould, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner and Howard Schultz, chances are it’s something special, and Lisa Hurwitz’s “The Automat” certainly is … I saw it at Telluride last year, and loved it for its mixture of fragrant recollections and astute social history…Read More
The Economist – February 16, 2022 – Yael Friedman
At the Automat, Americans could find community and cheap coffee, A new documentary explores the legacy of the now-defunct eateries
A charming new documentary is an ode to the grandeur and promise of the eateries…The film imparts some fascinating facts—at one point, 10% of Philadelphians were eating at Horn & Hardart daily—and convinces the viewer that Automats were an important part of the American social fabric. Though long gone, they are evidently not forgotten. In “At The Automat”, a new song Mr Brooks wrote for the film, he pays fond tribute to its famous coffee: “for just a shiny nickel, your tastebuds you could tickle, with that wonderful, magnificent, unbelievable, awesome coffee at the Automat.”…Read More
WNYC New York Public Radio – February 15, 2022 – Alison Stewart & Matt Katz
All Of It: Remembering The Automat with a New Documentary
Director Lisa Hurwitz's new documentary feature "The Automat" opens at Film Forum on February 18. Containing archival footage of Philadelphia and New York City, it chronicles the history of Horn & Hardart’s iconic eateries. Hurwitz joins us to talk the new film. Plus, we take your calls on your memories of The Automat in New York…Listen to the Interview
St. Louis Magazine – January 20, 2022 – Max Havey
7 films to catch at this year's St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
The Automat digs into the 100-year history of the restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, which was known for serving fresh meals through vending machines and encouraged communal-style dining. This documentary follows the growth and peak of Horn & Hardart as it grapples with the looming rise of fast food. Its story is told through notable former customers, including Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, Colin Powell, and Carl Reiner, among many others…Read More
The New York Public Library – January 12, 2022 – Tal Nadan
Work/Cited Episode 12: Rubbing Elbows at the Automat
In this episode, NYPL's Tal Nadan talks about the Horn & Hardart Automat with Lisa Hurwitz, director of the upcoming documentary The Automat, and Alec Shuldiner, Lisa's collaborator and author of a 2001 dissertation on the subject…Watch
The Jerusalem Post – January 6, 2022 – Hannah Brown
Jewish legends abound in 'The Automat' documentary
The documentary is a very accomplished debut film, a crowd-pleasing slice of nostalgia, featuring a comprehensive history of the phenomenal franchise, and analysis about why it caught on and stayed popular for so long. It has received rave reviews after being shown at film festivals and Cindy Adams, the legendary New York Post columnist, is beating the drum for the movie…Read More
The Saturday Evening Post – November 26, 2021 – Bob Sassone
News of the Week: Gift Books, Automat Memories, and I Bet You Have a Lot of Leftovers
We all have our ideas of what we’d do if we had a time machine, maybe stopping something terrible from happening in the past or finding out which lottery numbers will be the big winners. Me? I’d go back to ’40s or ’50s New York City and visit an Automat. There’s a new documentary about the popular chain of serve-yourself restaurants, and CBS has a story about it…Read More
CBS Sunday Morning – November 21, 2021 – Mo Rocca
The Automat: When restaurants were coin-operated
Correspondent Mo Rocca talks with Lisa Hurwitz, director of a nostalgic new documentary about Horn & Hardart's chain of cafeterias; and with Broadway star Chita Rivera, who fondly remembers her days as a dance student, when the Automat was a home away from home.…Watch
Deadline – November 16, 2021 – Matthew Grobar
Mel Brooks To Receive Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement Award
Brooks recently partnered with Hulu for History of the World, Part II, an eight-part variety series inspired by his classic 1981 film, which will enter production this spring. Brooks also recently wrote and performed the Oscar-contending original song “At the Automat” for Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary The Automat, which made its world premiere at this year’s Telluride Film Festival.
A new memoir from Brooks, All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business, is set for publication via Random House imprint Ballantine Books on November 30.…Read More
NY Post – November 9, 2021 – Cindy Adams
Get your coins
Once upon a nickel, before fast food, there existed a kind of eatery called the automat. Now’s a documentary starring Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould…“The Automat” doc happens February at the Film Forum..…Read More
BBC World News Talking Movies – October 14, 2021 – Tom Brook
Old automated US restaurant chain star of new documentary
A new documentary - The Automat - looks at a bygone dining institution that was once very popular in the US - especially in Philadelphia and New York. The automat offered a mechanized dining experience in which dishes were made available to customers when they inserted a coin into a vending machine. Talking Movies’ Tom Brook reports.…Watch
Let’s Talk History! Podcast – October 13, 2021 – Jennifer Lorenzo
Lisa Hurwitz discusses The History of Automats
The Denver Post – September 10, 2021 – Lisa Kennedy
Let the awards buzz begin: Kristen Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Will Smith at the Telluride Film Fest - Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” Zoom movie “The Same Storm” and “Julia” among 80 films screened
Making a nice side dish to “Julia” was Lisa Hurwitz’s “The Automat,” about the once new-fangled restaurant chain Horn and Hardart and the ways its automated cafeterias changed food culture and fed customers’ memories. And what could be more amazing than having Mel Brooks kick off and conclude — with a song! — your first documentary?....…Read More
The Wall Street Journal – September 9, 2021 – Joe Morgenstern
At Telluride, the Clouds Lift: The annual film festival rose to Covid-19 challenges and returned, delightfully, with highlights that included ‘Belfast,’ ‘King Richard’ and ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’
Lisa Hurwitz memorializes a chain of eateries like no other in “The Automat,” a beguiling little film that traces the populist history of the Horn & Hardart restaurants that were populist havens in New York and Philadelphia during the first half of the 20th century....…Read More
KPCC 89.3 Southern California NPR – September 3, 2021 – John Horn
New Documentary ‘The Automat’ Dispenses History, Rise To Popularity Of The Old Self-Serve Restaurant Chain
Today on FilmWeek, we’ll hear a portion of KPCC arts and entertainment reporter and host John Horn’s interview with “The Automat” director Lisa Hurwitz when they spoke just before she set out for Telluride....…Listen to the Interview
The Hollywood Reporter – September 2, 2021 – Stephen Farber
Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are just a few of the prominent folks who recall the joys of the innovative cafeteria in Lisa Hurwitz's documentary.
Among the impressive documentaries premiering at Telluride this year, Lisa Hurwitz’s The Automat may have a less momentous subject than some, but it boasts unmistakable charms....…Read More
The Playlist – September 2, 2021 – Warren Cantrell
‘The Automat’ Offers Up Fascinating, Bite-Sized History Lessons Befitting Its Subject [Telluride Review]
A thematically robust and surprisingly introspective look at one of America’s most cherished (and oft-forgotten) institutions, “The Automat” is much like the products of its eponymous subject: easily accessible, thoughtfully produced, and quickly consumed...…Read More
Deadline – September 2, 2021 – Pete Hammond
Is Mel Brooks Heading For A Best Song Oscar Nomination? Watch Him Sing ‘At The Automat’ – Telluride Film Festival
Brooks, who won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for 1968’s The Producers and already is an EGOT winner, has written music and lyrics for “At the Automat,” a song from the new documentary The Automat, which is having its world premiere Thursday night at the Telluride Film Festival..…Read More
Film Music Reporter – September 2, 2021
Lisa Hurwitz’s ‘The Automat’ to Feature Score by Hummie Mann and Original Song by Mel Brooks
Hummie Mann (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Year of the Comet, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Thomas and the Magic Railroad) has written the original score for the upcoming documentary The Automat. Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, The Producers) has contributed an original song to the movie.....Read More
Channel News Asia – January 26, 2021 – Karishma Chanrai
Ep 4: Ahead of Their Time: Horn and Hardart & TiffinLabs
The restaurant industry has been radically overhauled by companies like Horn & Hardart and their revolutionary Automat, and TiffinLabs transforming brick and mortar into the cloud.....Watch Episode
The Hollywood Reporter – August 3, 2020 – Rebecca Keegan
Inside the Telluride Film Festival That Would Have Been
The now canceled fall festival programmed 29 films, and tributes to Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins and Chloé Zhao, before a worsening pandemic drove executive director Julie Huntsinger to decide, "I don't want us to be part of a problem."....Read More
Variety– August 3, 2020 – Peter Debruge
Canceled Telluride Film Festival Announces 2020 Lineup
Three weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases forced the Telluride Film Festival team to cancel its 2020 event, organizers have announced the lineup that would have been.....Read More
Forbes – March 29, 2020 – Giovanni Rodriguez
The Automat: The Most Culturally Relevant Film For Post-Pandemic America
For what makes [The Automat] so moving is a thing that’s so badly needed today: a belief in a more egalitarian America, and a belief in the power of place. They have both been waning fast in the last few decades, but the pandemic is bringing them into sharp relief. We are now forced to remember a time we could physically congregate....Read More
99% Invisible Podcast – June 4, 2019 – Avery Trufelman
The Automat
Avery Trufelman spoke with Lorraine Diehl and Marianne Hardart, authors of The Automat: The History, Recipes, and Allure of Horn & Hardart’s Masterpiece; Gwyneth Borden, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association; Lisa Hurwitz, maker of the upcoming documentary ‘The Automat’....Listen to The Full Episode
The Portland Press Herald – March 3, 2019 – Peggy Grodinsky
'The Automat' depicts the rise and fall of American culinary icon Horn & Hardart
“The Automat” features a hilarious Mel Brooks, as well as Carl Reiner, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and many other famous and not-so-famous people reminiscing about the cafeteria. The story of its rise and fall mirrors American history – the rise of the office worker, the rise of women, our love of efficiency and novelty (you put a nickel in a slot and removed your food from a vending machine), the impact of the Depression (the prices at H&H were famously reasonable for famously good food), the labor movement and the growth of fast food (god help us)....Read More
Jewish in Seattle Magazine – February 9, 2017 – Pamela Lavitt
Three Local Women Filmmakers You Need to Know
As men continue to dominate the feature film industry, more women are getting behind the camera and putting in a tremendous amount of blood, sweat, and tears to create documentaries. We sat down with three local Jewish cine-wonders — Lisa Cohen (Confessions of a Former Bully), Lisa Hurwitz (The Automat), and Elisa Levine (Sweetheart Deal) — to talk about their inspiration, trials, and victories...Read More
DNAinfo – June 29, 2016 – Jeanmarie Evelly
Save Former Childs Restaurant on Queens Blvd, Preservationists Say
Filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz submitted a request Saturday to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to evaluate 59-37 Queens Blvd. for potential landmarking. The history of the property and its decorative terra cotta facade deserve to be preserved, she says in her petition...Read More
Collectors Weekly – November 13, 2015 – Hunter Oatman-Stanford
Coin-Op Cuisine: When the Future Tasted Like a Five-Cent Slice of Pie
Life in 2015 isn’t quite what we were promised in the last century’s science-fiction fantasies: We don’t live on the moon, commute to work in autonomous flying cars, or get homework help from friendly robot maids. And yet, our predictions for food service—fully cooked meals delivered instantly at the push of a button—became a reality more than 50 years before “The Jetsons” ever aired...Read More
The Village Voice – March 6, 2015 – Zachary Feldman
Documentary Recalls When CEOs Clinked Cups With Buskers in Massive Cafeterias
Now there's a documentary being made about Horn & Hardart, its meteoric rise (at one point, it was the world's largest restaurant chain, feeding over half a million people per day) and meandering but noble conclusion. Through her aptly named production company, A Slice of Pie Productions, director and producer Lisa Hurwitz recently released a trailer for the film, which chronicles the restaurant's history via interviews with culinary historians, descendants of founders Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, former employees, and patrons, including candor from actor Elliott Gould. Hurwitz describes the automat as the "Ellis Island of restaurants," where cheap, well-prepared food became the equalizer between the upper crust and crust-less. Through her aptly named production company, A Slice of Pie Productions, director and producer Lisa Hurwitz recently released a trailer for the film, which chronicles the restaurant's history via interviews with culinary historians, descendants of founders Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, former employees, and patrons, including candor from actor Elliott Gould. Hurwitz describes the automat as the "Ellis Island of restaurants," where cheap, well-prepared food became the equalizer between the upper crust and crust-less...Read More
Gothamist – February 26, 2015 – Jen Carlson
Help Raise Funds For An Automat... Documentary
The coolest reward is definitely for $2,500, where you will get your own Automat door (there's only one)... though if you prefer, you can also donate $5,000 for a lunch at Olive Garden...Read More
Forest Hills Times – February 25, 2015 – Michael Perlman
New Doc Revisits The Glory Of The Automat
Film director and producer Lisa Hurwitz plans to releaseThe Automatand capture the glory of an American institution. The first trailer was released on February 10, and is gaining recognition onKickstarter, Facebook, and YouTube. The Los Angeles native and Seattle resident visited Forest Hills, which played a major role in the Automat's history...Read More
West Side Rag – February 25, 2015
UWS Movie News: Putzel Now Free On HULU; Automat Documentary Planned, Richard Gere Movie
Lisa Hurwitz is directing a documentary about Automats, which were an Upper West Side and New York City mainstay for decades...Read More