September 15,
2012
Ties found between ex-convict, insurance salesman and Christian charity, who produced the film over a shared belief that radical Islam threatens the world; cast and crew say believed they were participating in a film on ancient Egypt, had no idea of its Islamophobic nature.
Haaretz
A schlock softporn director named
Alan Roberts has been identified as the director of the film that ridicules
Muslims and the prophet Muhammed and has incited violent protests across the
Middle East, according to a report by Gawker published Saturday.
According to Gawker, an Alan
Roberts is listed as director on casting calls and call sheets of “Innocence of
Muslims” from the summer of 2011, back when the film was innocuously called
“Desert Warriors.”
Further, the report says,
Roberts’ real name is Robert Brownell, a 65-year-old small-time director and
editor, whose directing credits include some softcore porn from the 70s and 80s
like 1977′s “Young Lady Chatterly,” “The Sexpert” and
“The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood,” third of the Happy Hooker trilogy. Other
credits reportedly include low-budget films like 1991′s
“Karate Cop” along with 28 editing credits.
“My gut tells me he (Roberts) was
just a has-been director who was trying to prove he could still be Hollywood,”
an actress who worked on Innocence of Muslims reportedly wrote in an email.
Gawker wrote that it has tried to
reach Roberts, “but his business associate told us he ‘turned off his phone’
soon after protests broke out over the film and is laying low. But he said
Roberts was ‘non-political’ and did not have any apparent anti-Islam feelings.”
According to the report, “Roberts
may have been duped by the film’s producer in much the same way as the rest of
the cast and crew. They believed they were participating in a period piece
about ancient Egypt and had no idea the movie would be edited and dubbed into a
piece of Islamophobic propaganda.”
The Associated Press reported on
Saturday that most of the film was shot using a backdrop to simulate other
locations. The crew members received sheets with the scenes each day ~ never a
full script ~ and Eric Moers, who served as chief electrician for the
production, said there was no mention of the word “Muhammed” throughout the
filming.
Other actors have come forward to
say references to Muhammed were dubbed after the film was shot and they had no
idea the film would be so denigrating. “I’d say this was the most
unprofessional professional film I’ve worked on,” said Moers, who estimated the
cost of production at $100,000. “I don’t think anyone took it seriously.”
Castmembers and crew told Gawker
on Friday that Roberts was brought on by producer “Sam Bacile,” also known as
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. According to the Associated Press, Nakoula Basseley
Nakoula, who authorities say has used multiple names and was convicted of bank fraud,
says he managed logistics for the film.
Federal authorities have
identified Nakoula as the key figure behind the film. A federal law enforcement
official told The Associated Press on Thursday that authorities had connected
Nakoula to a man using the pseudonym of Sam Bacile who claimed earlier to be
writer and director of the film.
According to the Associated
Press, Media for Christ, a nonprofit that raised more than $1 million in 2011
“to glow Jesus’ light” to the world, was listed as the production company for
the film. Steve Klein, a California insurance salesman and Vietnam War veteran
who has spent years protesting at mosques and espousing hatred of radical
Muslims, acted as the film’s promoter.
Most of Innocence of Muslims was
shot in about two weeks inside a squat warehouse that serves as the offices of
Media for Christ, according to Eric Moers.
What prompted Media for Christ’s
involvement isn’t known because the organizations’ leaders have not spoken
publicly. And much about the film remains a mystery, notably who financed it.
FILM’S FINANCING
Media for Christ, which produces
a program called “The Way TV,” reported spending nearly $650,000 on “TV
recording production” in 2011. But the organization did not break down those
costs so it’s unclear if any of that money was spent on the film.
The clumsily produced film, which
looks like a spoof, alternately portrays Muhammed as a fraud, a womanizer and a
child molester. Despite its poor production value, the film would have cost at
least tens of thousands of dollars to make because of the equipment used and
the professional actors and stage hands who were hired.
The permit, issued by Film LA,
could have cost under $1,000 though details aren’t known because the document
has been sealed at the request of federal law enforcement officials.
Moers said the film took 15 to 16
days to shoot and 90 percent of the work was done at the Media for Christ
studios. He said one day was spent at a movie ranch in Santa Clarita, and one
day was spent filming at the home of the man he knew as Bacile.
Eric Moers said he was paid with
a check issued on the account of Abanob Basseley Nakoula, the 20-year-old son
of the purported filmmaker.
While Steve Klein has granted a
steady stream of interviews and is unapologetic for the film, Nakoula has
disappeared since talking to an Associated Press reporter in his driveway
Wednesday. And Media for Christ President Joseph N. Abdelmasih has not spoken
publicly.
Tax records for the charity do
not identify any donors other than Abdelmasih, who lent the organization at
least $30,000. He did not return phone messages and an email sent to the
charity. Kamal Rizk, listed as vice president on federal records, did not
return several phone messages.
Abdelmasih, a Christian
originally from Egypt, has spoken out against radical Islam and participated in
a protest against a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center near
the World Trade Center site.
The Media for Christ offices are
located just off a freeway and next to a mall with big-box stores in the quiet
Los Angeles suburb of Duarte. There is no sign on the building identifying the
nonprofit.
City Manager Darrell George said
Media for Christ held a valid business license since 2006 and no issues had
ever come up, until authorities confirmed earlier this week that the group was
listed on the film permit.
One of Klein’s platforms was a
weekly show on Media for Christ’s satellite network, The Way TV, the Los
Angeles Times reported.
Klein has a long history of anti-Muslim
activities. He founded Courageous Christians United, which conducts protests
outside abortion clinics, Mormon temples and mosques. He also started Concerned
Citizens for the First Amendment, which preaches against Muslims and publishes
volumes of anti-Muslim propaganda that Klein distributes.
The Southern Poverty Law Center
says they have been tracking Klein for several years and have labeled two of
the organizations he is affiliated with as hate groups
ED: If the ADL-affiliated
SPLC accuses you of hate crimes, you gotta be pretty darn rotten to make their
books!
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