He wasn’t an A-lister, but he played the role perfectly – luxury homes, fake studio contracts, and talk of million-dollar Netflix deals. For years, actor Zachary Horwitz – better known by his stage name Zach Avery – convinced investors that he was a rising Hollywood producer.
Instead, he was running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in entertainment history.
The Hollywood Hustle
Between 2014 and 2019, Horwitz raised at least US $650 million from investors through his company, 1inMM Capital LLC. He claimed he was buying international film rights and reselling them to Netflix and HBO for profit.
To make the story believable, he showed investors forged studio contracts and fake email correspondence using company logos.
In reality, prosecutors said the deals never existed. New investor money simply paid old investors – classic Ponzi playbook – while Horwitz used the rest to bankroll a lavish lifestyle:
a US $6 million Los Angeles mansion, luxury travel, designer wine collections, and private jets.
The Fall of Zach Avery
By 2019, the web of lies collapsed. Dozens of investors demanded their returns, and the fake licensing documents came under scrutiny.
Federal investigators discovered that 1inMM Capital had no legitimate distribution contracts with any streaming service.
Horwitz was arrested in April 2021, pled guilty to one count of securities fraud that October, and in February 2022 was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
He was also ordered to pay US $230,361,884 in restitution.
In court, he told the judge he thought he could “fix it before it all came down.” He couldn’t.
Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam
The shocking saga has now been retold in a new Prime Video docuseries, Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam, which premiered October 17, 2025.
The series features interviews with victims, prosecutors, and financial experts – detailing how Horwitz used Hollywood’s obsession with success to lure investors into a fantasy.
It’s a cautionary tale about how easily fame, trust, and forged PDFs can move millions when wrapped in the glitter of show business.
Interesting Facts
- He really was an actor – just not a famous one
- He appeared in several low-budget films such as Farming, Trespassers, and The White Crow.
- His IMDb page listed him as a “rising star” and included polished press releases he’d written himself – to make investors think he was connected in Hollywood.
- 1inMM Capital was short for “One in a Million.”
- He used that phrase in investor decks to suggest he had rare access to studio distribution networks.
- Before his arrest, Horwitz was reportedly developing an “educational program” to teach small investors how to fund movies – using himself as the model of success.
The Bigger Picture
Zach Avery’s story isn’t just about one man’s greed, it’s about how image-driven Hollywood can blur the line between fiction and reality.
He sold a dream, and everyone bought tickets.
