New True Crime Documentary has Indiana Roots
A new true-crime docuseries called Hollywood Hustler: Glitz, Glam, Scam is turning heads—not just for the jaw-dropping fraud at its center, but because the man behind the scheme has deep Indiana roots. The series follows Zach Horwitz, a Fort Wayne native who went from small-town Hoosier to Hollywood high-roller… before it all came crashing down in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in Tinseltown history.
From Fort Wayne to the Hollywood Hills
Horwitz grew up in Fort Wayne, graduating from Carroll High School before attending Indiana University Bloomington, where he studied psychology. Like a lot of Midwestern kids with big dreams, he packed up and headed west.
But instead of making it big in movies, he made it big in fraud. He convinced investors he had lucrative film-distribution deals with big-name streaming services like Netflix and HBO. The truth? Those deals didn’t exist.
A Billion-Dollar Image
Horwitz lived like a Hollywood insider—private jets, expensive wine, lavish parties, the whole image. That image helped him raise over $650 million from investors. And many of those early investors? People from his Indiana network—college friends, acquaintances, and folks who trusted the “local guy who made it big.” In 2021, the scheme unraveled. By 2022, Horwitz had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, with more than $230 million owed in restitution.
Why This Story Hits Close to Home
This isn’t just a glitzy Hollywood cautionary tale. It’s a reminder that scams often start with trust. And trust usually starts close to home. Horwitz wasn’t some faceless stranger—he was someone’s classmate, neighbor, IU friend…