Brand profile

Backroom Casting Couch — Read This Before You Sign

Note: Before Your Scene is the editorial arm of My First Scene, our DFW production studio. We write about the industry — including us.

If you answered a BRCC ad, got an agency offer, or a scout reached out, read this before you sign. BRCC has operated since 2007 under Arizona pornographer Eric Whittaker. The production is legal and licensed. What the recruiting pitch doesn’t tell you is in the public record below: who’s been arrested, what women who shot for BRCC have said, and what actually happens to the content after your scene ships.

Last reviewed: April 23, 2026
At a glance
Type
Brand
Based in
Scottsdale, AZ
Founded
2007
Parent
Operated by Eric Whittaker
Known for
Amateur porn built on the 'fake audition' trope
Status
Still operating

What it is

BRCC is a long-running amateur porn site and production company. Every scene follows the same pattern: a young woman is presented as a first-time applicant who walks into an "audition" and ends up on camera. The scene is shot in a Scottsdale, Arizona office and framed to read as spontaneous.

She is not an off-the-street walk-in. Every woman featured in a BRCC scene applied in advance, signed a model release, agreed on a rate, and arrived knowing what the shoot was. The "audition" is the product, not the reality.

Published reporting attributes ownership to Eric Whittaker (sometimes spelled Whitaker), an Arizona pornographer. Blog and news coverage has also named Nik Richie and former performer Taryn Thomas as co-owners or associates at various points.

How it operates

Recruiting runs through Craigslist-style classifieds and social media pitches offering modeling work at rates as high as $5,000 per day. Interested applicants are funneled toward a casting conversation that ends with a pornographic shoot, framed on camera as though the performer did not know the job was pornographic.

Shoot logistics are straightforward: performer signs a model release and consent forms, ID is verified for 2257 records, the scene is filmed, and payment is issued. Performers have reported being shown their IDs during the shoot and being told the IDs would not appear in the finished film.

Finished content is sold through the BRCC paysite and distributed across tube aggregator networks, which is the point where performers' expectations about distribution have diverged sharply from what actually happens to the content.

Publicly documented issues
  • June 2011 · Antonio Adrian 'Gonzo' Gonzalez, BRCC's top recruiter, was charged with child-pornography-related offenses. He admitted to police he had used social-media sites to recruit minors to appear on Backroom Casting Couch. Phoenix New Times
  • 2011 · Kevin Kelsch, a BRCC associate, was arrested and accused of secretly recording sex with an ex-girlfriend. Allegations of covert recording connected to the BRCC production circle. Phoenix New Times
  • 2010 · ASU freshman Elizabeth Hawkenson said she was required to show her school ID during the shoot and was told it would not appear in the finished film. After the scene published, Hawkenson said she was outed at school and ultimately dropped out. Phoenix New Times
  • 2011 · Reporting on BRCC performer claims alleged the site's operator had an untreated STI at the time of filming, raising questions about health-and-testing practices inconsistent with industry PASS standards. Phoenix New Times
  • Ongoing · Published reporting and performer accounts describe a pattern in which content promised for paysite-only distribution has appeared on free tube aggregator networks and international mirrors after publication, with no recall mechanism for performers. Vice

Rate structure

Public pay figures for BRCC are not disclosed by the company. Reporting on the recruiting pitches cites rates advertised up to $5,000 per day, which are the ceiling numbers in recruiting copy rather than typical rates. Actual rates paid to individual performers have been described in news interviews in the mid-four-figure range per shoot.

Pay is same-day at wrap, per industry standard practice for amateur productions. The economics of the brand rely on low production cost per scene combined with high aftermarket distribution through aggregator networks.

Contract patterns

The central contract concern documented by former performers is the gap between the distribution scope they believed they agreed to and the actual distribution that occurred. Performers have reported understanding that their content would appear only on the BRCC paysite, only to see the same scenes appearing across tube sites, free-porn aggregator networks, and international mirrors with no removal recourse.

The "audition" framing also produces a second durable effect: the permanent tagging of a performer's scene under the "Backroom Casting Couch" brand in search indexes. That tag, attached to a performer's scene titles, is the first thing that surfaces on any future search for their name or stage name.

Before signing, verify
  • Exact distribution scope — every domain, aggregator network, and licensing partner where the scene may appear
  • Whether the model release grants unlimited aftermarket distribution rights or caps to a specific paysite
  • Whether any content-removal or takedown mechanism exists, in writing, if you change your mind later
  • Current STI testing protocol — is PASS, Talent Testing Service, or equivalent required for every participant
  • Whether your government ID will appear on camera in the finished film, and whether that's written into the release
  • How the 'audition' framing and scene title will index under your stage name in search engines — search the site's back catalog to see what the permanent tag looks like
How we do it differently
The issues above — uncapped distribution, permanent “casting couch” brand tagging, associate arrest history, consent disputes — are the exact things My First Scene is built to avoid.
  • Distribution is capped and written. Your release names the specific paysite and platforms where the scene runs. Aftermarket resale to tube aggregators isn’t part of the deal.
  • Your stage name is yours. Scenes are tagged under the name you choose. No permanent “first time audition” framing attached to your search results.
  • PASS-compliant testing, every performer, every shoot. No exceptions. Documentation provided before cameras roll.
  • Written removal path. If you change your mind, there’s a process in the contract — not a hope.
  • Same-day pay at wrap, direct to you. Travel covered. No middleman on your money.
Apply with us
Disclosure
Before Your Scene is the editorial arm of My First Scene, our DFW production studio. We write about the industry — including us — so performers know what to expect before they shoot with anyone.
Sources
  1. Backroom Casting Couch Porn Site Recruiter Antonio Adrian Gonzalez Arrested · Phoenix New Times · Jun 2011
  2. Backroom Casting Couch Turns to Craigslist After Top Recruiter's Indictment · Phoenix New Times
  3. Backroom Casting Couch Associate Kevin Kelsch Arrested · Phoenix New Times
  4. Backroom Casting Couch Lands Another ASU Student · Phoenix New Times
  5. Despite What You May Have Heard, an ASU Freshman in 'Reality Porn' Didn't Lose Her Scholarship · Phoenix New Times
  6. Backroom Casting Couch's Anonymous Reality Porn Creep Has Herpes · Phoenix New Times
  7. Re-Examining 'Casting Couch' Porn in the Age of #MeToo · Vice
  8. Real 'Spring Breakers' Don't Have Happy Endings · Salon · 2013
  9. Does ASU Have a Porn Problem? · The State Press (ASU) · Nov 2010
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