In June 2019, in our earlier days of working on Double Talk, we received an email from a publicist pitching her client, an up and coming coming actor, for an interview. Always looking to meet new people and enjoy a fun conversation, we got on the phone with Zach Horwitz, stage name Zach Avery.
Fast forward five years to just a couple of weeks ago, and the two of us were browsing YouTube when we got a suggested video in our feed about an actor who landed himself in prison for 20 years after masterminding the biggest Ponzi scheme in Hollywood history. His name was Zach Horwitz.
Through his scheme he defrauded investors of $227 million — and he had already been at it for years by the time we met him over the phone.
During that 2019 interview, while describing how he prepares for an acting role, Zach told us, “Psychology plays such a large part in this process because it’s a real study on why people do the things that they do, and the outside influences that push them toward these decisions.”
Reading those words on the page now, we realize that this is the very premise that has us so hooked on the Zach Horwitz case now. Why did he do it, and how? What turns a regular guy with a dream into a criminal, and more specifically, a fraud?
In perfect timing came a brand new documentary premiering at Tribeca: Bad Actor: A Hollywood Ponzi Scheme, an hour and a half long deep dive that exposes the allure of the glitz and glamor that ensnared both Horwitz and his victims. We chatted with the filmmakers at its premiere at the SVA Theater in New York City.