Blacklisted Indie Filmmaker Shane Ryan Wants To Cast Adult Actors

Independent filmmaker Shane Ryan is seeking casting submissions from those in the adult film industry. The director has been banned from casting his films by traditional Hollywood and independent film casting sites like BackStage.com, IMDbpro.com, LaCasting.com, and even Craigslist, due to a few of the roles containing nudity and/or sexual content. "I've got no place left," says Ryan. "I don't even know how to make a film anymore if I can't do the most basic things, like post a casting notice." Ryan has frequently cast adult film actors in his films, most notably Joanna Angel (appearing in two of his feature films), and he's worked several times with Tommy Pistol; both appearing in Sean Cain's Jurassic City and Breath of Hate, plus a Soska Twins production, Troma's Grindsploitation, and with Ryan directing Pistol and Angel in The Owl in Echo Park, alongside star Kevin Gage (of Michael Mann's Heat). Ryan also produced Samurai Cop 2, which co-starred Kayden Kross, Lexi Belle, Misty Stone, Charlotte Stokely, Rachel Roxx and Zoey Monroe alongside Bai Ling (The Crow), Ralph Garman (Family Guy), and Tommy Wiseau (The Room, James Franco's The Disaster Artist). And he cast the now retired Regan Reece to star in Amateur Porn Star Killer 3: The Final Chapter (the end to his successful underground faux snuff film trilogy). Ryan has set up casting notices on his own site, but says since he's not a casting site, he doesn't really have much to choose from when it comes to submissions. "The roles requiring nudity have been quite a struggle, plus it's what got me in trouble with regular casting sites. It seems like when it comes to nudity these days in indie cinema, people are just becoming censorship crazy," says Ryan. "I remember using Backstage and Craigslist to cast some of the Amateur Porn Star Killer films back in the day. Now, they wouldn't dare even allow a film with that title." The film that has gotten Ryan into some of the most trouble is, in fact, Ted Bundy Had a Son, a trilogy sequel/spinoff to his APSK trilogy, picking up more than 10 years later from where the last film left off. The other film that got him kicked off Backstage.com is God Got Ill, which is about how a child could become a school shooter. "The craziness in this film's situation," says Ryan, "is that a feminist publicly bullied Backstage via Twitter until they removed the notice. Well, the role was that of an Amanda Todd-based character (a real life teenage girl who killed herself after being bullied via the internet). Gotta love the irony there." The role simply required some non-sexual content nudity, which was based on the video that caused Amanda Todd to be bullied in the first place. Apparently this feminist was against actors doing nude roles in films, and had a big enough following to shame Backstage into removing the posting, with Ryan left receiving multiple messages by Backstage about what was happening with his films. While Shane Ryan's movies are shot usually entirely by Ryan (without a crew), on zero budget productions, in a small town on the central coast of California (Lompoc), they always manage to find their way into major retailers and with distribution, festival play, critical acclaim, and more. They've been reviewed in everything from the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Rue Morgue, MTV, Mr. Skin, and several other publications and sites around the world. Those interested may check a list of what Ryan is currently casting here. Pictured, clockwise from top: Kevin Gage, Tommy Pistol, Shane Ryan, Joanna Angel