Hack work, hoaxes, and “The Innocence of Muslims” porn connection

It turns out that “The Innocence of Muslims,” that inflammatory, wrongheaded, and horribly-produced trailer on YouTube, has a porn connection after all.

Gawker reports that Alan Roberts, best known for directing 1970s/80s softcore films like “Young Lady Chatterley” and “The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood,” was hired by producer and self-described Coptic Christian Nakoula “Sam Bacile” Basseley Nakoula, to helm the project.

Now, according to an actress in the film, we learn that the “Muslims” movie was sold to both cast and talent search services as “Desert Warriors,” about a magical comet that crashes in the desert and the tribal conflict arising from its appearance.

Fantasy author/filmmaker Neil Gaiman received an email from an actress acquaintance named Anna Gurji, who stated she was not aware of the real content of the movie she shot last August in a small studio in Duarte, CA.

There was no mention EVER by anyone of MUHAMMAD and no mention of religion during the entire time I was on the set. I am hundred percent certain nobody in the cast and nobody in the US artistic side of the crew knew what was really planned for this “Desert Warrior”.

According to his most recent credits on the Internet Movie Database, Roberts had been working steadily as a producer and editor of straight-to-video fare like the 2008 video “Zombie Wars,” 2007’s poetry slam story “Fighting Words” (starring C. Thomas Howell and Fred Willard), and the larger-budget 2003 Johnny Knoxville film “Grand Theft Parsons.” In many cases it looks as if Roberts was flown in to “fix” the editing of especially low-budget movies.

But while Roberts has (apparently) not had involvement in the porn industry since his softcore work in the 1980s, it is interesting that media outlets still emphasize his porn resume rather than his more recent non-porn B-movie gigs. Interesting but understandable.

The picture that is emerging is of a cast that was duped—and is now living in fear—appearing to utter lines that were dubbed over their original dialogue, of a 65-year-old director taking on hack work, and a producer orchestrating a scam that went from mean-spirited to deadly.

[UPDATE: Another actress hired for “Desert Warriors,” Cindy Lee Garcia, has filed suit in Los Angeles against “Sam Bacile,” citing grievances similar to those of Anna Gurji—USA Today.]

Previously on Porn Valley Observed: Porn world quietly shelves “This Ain’t Innocence of Muslims XXX”
See also: Neil Gaiman’s Journal—a letter from a scared actress; Confirmed: “The Innocence of Muslims” director is a schlocky softcore director…;Alan Roberts on the IMDb