Zach Avery

In 2013, Avery was a co-founder, along with the Hallivis brothers (Julio and Diego Hallivis), of the 1inMM Productions company (“One in a Million”).[16][17] The Hallivis brother said "“We created 1inMM Productions to produce high concept genre films with an edgy and unique approach to storytelling ... Together, we have a shared commitment of cultivating the rise of a new class of auteurs.”[16] One of the company's projects of note was a new film fund to produce and finance two-to-three elevated genre films under $5M per year for global audiences.[16]

In 2015[18][19] this company had started to which purported to produce, acquire, and distribute content to mainstream audiences.[20] Avery had told investors that he had acquired and distributed dozens of films including titles, e.g. “Active Measures”, “Lucia's Grace”, “Blood Quantum (film)”, and "La Melodie",[15][10] particularly in Latin America.[18][19] In 2015, 1inMM's annual report touted that it had acquired and distributed 49 films “without incurring a single loss in the process.”[10]

The scheme was promoted as a “safe” investment as it was one which acquired the rights to film titles prior to releasing funds for the film.[18][19] In total, investors had giving him a combined $650 million for the fictitious movie deals with HBO and Netflix.[1] However, instead the funds were used to repay previous investors, i.e. using the money he took from new investors to repay old ones, and to bankroll Avery's lifestyle. Avery's lifestyle expenses included, interior decorating ($706,000),[1][5] Mercedes Benz and Audi cars ($605,000), private jet and yacht trips ($345,000), Los Angeles party consultant services ($174,000), Las Vegas casinos and nightclubs ($136,000), credit-card payments to American Express ($6.9 million), and a Beverlywood residence ($5.7 million[13][5][21]).[1][18][19][10] Avery was reported to have a net worth of $5 million.[5]

In late 2019, Avery began defaulting on nearly every payment due to investors and blamed the problem on HBO and Netflix Inc, who Avery had claimed had refused to pay for movies they had licensed from his company.[15] In reality, neither Avery, nor his company, had ever done business with HBO or Netflix.[22] Avery had not secured any distribution rights, forged hundreds of distribution contracts[7][1] and also forged correspondence between himself and both HBO and Netflix in order to allay concerns to the scheme's investors.[10] The Federal Bureau of Investigation had estimated that Avery had defaulted on around a total of $227 million in payments anticipated by investors.[15]

Avery was arrested on charges of wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343[23]) on 6 April 2021,[3][13] in connection with the alleged orchestration of a $690 million[21] Ponzi scheme that began in 2015, defrauding investors of over $227 million[5] based on false claims that investor money would be used to acquire licensing rights to films HBO and Netflix had agreed to distribute abroad[18][19][24][25][26][27] On 4 October 2021, Avery pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.[28] On 14 February 2022, Avery was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $230 million in restitution.[29][21]

Friends and fellow Indiana University graduates Jake Wundrelin, Joe deAlteris, Matthew Schweinzger, and Tyler Crookston formed JJMT Capital (first initials of the founders), which went out and found dozens of investors for Avery’s promissory notes, including their family, friends and professional contacts.[10] The largest source of investor funds for the scheme were raised by JJMT. In total, JJMT alone raised about $216 million, securities filings show, and entered into 500 promissory notes.[10] JJMT alerted federal law enforcement to the scheme when Avery stopped making payments on 160 notes sold through JJMT ($160 million in principal and $59 million in returns).[10] JJMT’s principals were reported as having been duped by Avery, and cooperated with the federal investigators.[15]

Adam Ferrari, petroleum engineer, who boughnine of the promissory notes ($250,000) through JJMT with a promise of 25% interest, lost $100,000 and subsequently filed a lawsuit against JJMT.[10]

The scheme had impacted over 250 investors.[1] Some investors were financially ruined in what prosecutors called a crime of “staggering magnitude”.[1] Avery's prosecutor stated that some of his victims had been those close to him: -

"He began by betraying the trust of his own friends. People who lowered their guard because they could not possibly imagine that someone they had known for years would unflinchingly swindle them and their families out of their life savings."[7]

Avery's screen debut was claimed to be in the 2009 film G.E.D. However, doubt has been cast on the veracity of this claim, with Ivan Parron, a lawyer for Cess Silvera (G.E.D. director), saying that Silvera had never heard of Avery.[15]

Avery appeared in roles of movies being financed by 1inMM Productions, and being produced by Julio and Diego Hallivis, including The Shifter (2014),[30][11] The Laughing Man (2016),[31][32][33] Curvature (2017),[16] Hell Is Where the Home Is (2108),[34][35] and The Devil Below (2021)[34] etc. The Shifter marked Avery's first 'in front of the camera' role (outside of the theatre).[11][4] The Laughing Man (2016), based on the backstory of the Joker, was Avery's first film with a notable level of success, reaching the attention of 3 million viewers on YouTube in the first couple of weeks.[4][36]

Real-life documentaries about Avery include: