VICE Studios Group’s UnTypical and Library Films’ new documentary Hollywood Ending has been acquired by Amazon MGM Studios, Deadline exclusively reported.
The Rebecca Chaiklin-directed documentary follows the story of Zach Horwitz, who also goes by his stage name, Zach Avery, billed as a charismatic “midwestern, millennial Madoff” who ran a $690 million Ponzi scheme.
Does this Hollywood Ponzi scheme have a Hollywood Ending?
The former actor defrauded investors by claiming that he acquired highly profitable licensing deals with streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO. The Ponzi scheme started in 2014 when Horwitz began drumming up funds from investors. He promised them high returns from the fraudulent licensing deals.
Horwitz ran the deals through his company, 1inMM Capital LLC, which he presented as a successful film distributor. To further its cover of legitimacy, he also gave investors falsified documents as well as fake licensing agreements and emails that were supposedly from entertainment chiefs.
He gave used the funds from new investors to pay off the earlier ones, as well as pay for his lavish lifestyle. He bought a $6-million Los Angeles mansion, luxury cars and trips. His Hollywood Ponzi scheme came apart in 2021 when the investors began demanding their returns and Horwitz couldn’t continue making the payouts.
Horwitz was arrested by the FBI for wire fraud. In 2022, he pled guilty to security fraud. He was then sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and to pay restitution of $230 million to his victims.
Chaiklin is best known for directing and executive producing the Netflix sensation Tiger King, which took the world by storm during the pandemic. She then followed up with the sequel Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story. Her other documentary credits include 2014’s Another World, 2006’s Lockdown, USA and 2001’s Last Party 2000.
Prime Video’s crime documentaries
Hollywood Ending will be available to stream on Prime Video soon. The streamer has a whole host of documentaries available. Earlier this year, it premiered Carla Gutiérrez’s Frida Kahlo doc Frida, the Navy and Marine Corps’ The Blue Angels both in cinemas and for streaming.
Prime Video also has another upcoming crime documentary, this time focusing on the sports world, specifically the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs superfan, Xaviar Babudar. He’s also known as the Chiefsaholic. However, he’s also a serial bank robber and the subject of ChiefsAholic: A Wolf in Chiefs Clothing.
Other documentaries on Prime Video that premiered earlier in the month are Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg, who was a style icon in the ’60s and ’70s and was The Rolling Stones’ muse. Walled Off also debuted in early May, which chronicled life for Palestinians under Israeli occupation as they fight for freedom through creative resistance.
Chronicling life under Israeli occupation, this documentary offers an intimate look at Palestinians’ fight for freedom through creative resistance and challenges media narratives perpetuating biased coverage of the conflict. The music documentary American Mileage will start streaming Tuesday.
Next month, the upcoming documentary I Am: Celine Dion will premiere on June 25. Hollywood Ending doesn’t have a launch date announced yet.
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