One ran a Christian charity from here in Cerritos east of Los Angeles. The other filmmaker was a gas station owner just released out of federal prison.

In the last year, these men, both Egyptian immigrants, became unlikely collaborators in a movie that has shaken the stability of the Middle East.

Joseph Nassralla Abdelmasih, the president of the charity 'Media for Christ', and Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon from the suburb of Cerritos, emerged Thursday as the men behind "Innocence of Muslims." A You Tube released low-budget film trailer incited violence in recent days across the Arab world.

TV coverage tonight here in LA showed Nakoula possibly hiding in a house in Cerritos. Joseph was shown 'leaving town' in a red Ford Ranger.

The actors in the film have came forward now to say that they were duped. The words 'Mohammad' were dubbed into the movie.

"I fled to America with my family because of the violence directed against me for my Christian faith," Nassralla was quoted as saying last year on an anti-Islamic website.

"Sheriff Baca must be fired, and the County must apologize to all of us who have suffered at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood."

Nassralla has also fled Los Angeles, and is now in hiding...

Photos from EPA/AP Press Services