How does an Intimacy Coordinator Help a Film?

Yesterday’s post was about how Intimacy Coordinators work with actors. Today, we look at how an Intimacy Coordinator supports a whole production, whether it’s film or TV. Here’s a look at my process:

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What does an Intimacy Coordinator do?

You may have scene “Intimacy Coordination” in the news lately, and be wondering:

What does an Intimacy Coordinator do?

How does an Intimacy Coordinator work on set?

Well, here is a glimpse at my process.

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Announcing Intimacy Direction in Dance!

I came to Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination because of my work in theatre. I came to work in theatre as a choreographer and a dancer. Dance has always shaped the journeys of who I am and what I do. Since I started learning Intimacy Direction in 2018, and particularly once I met Sarah Lozoff, I had a goal of bringing Intimacy Direction to concert dance- especially ballet and modern. And now, we’re one step closer,

IntimacyDirectionInDance.com

Sarah and I, with the fantastic Renee Redding-Jones are excited to launch Intimacy Direction in Dance! We are here to let dance companies know that Intimacy Direction is available to them! And that there are professionals specifically trained in both dance and intimacy. The power dynamics, vocabulary, and performance demands of dance are all slightly different than those of theatre of film. So we want dance companies to work with folks who are well-versed in the dance performance, creation, and teaching worlds, so that the application of Intimacy Direction to dance performances is beneficial to dancers, choreographers, and audiences.

We are excited to get to work!

What is an Intimacy Coordinator?

Maybe you’ve heard about it in a celebrity interview, seen it in the credits on your favorite TV show or at your local theatre. But Intimacy Coordinator, and it’s siblings, Intimacy Director, Intimacy Choreographer, and Intimacy Professional are now part of pop culture.

So, what is an Intimacy Coordinator?

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Intimacy Coordination in the News- August 2022

What is a Boundary?

What is a Boundary?

“Boundaries” is a term that gets thrown around a lot in Intimacy work. But what, exactly, IS a boundary?

Check out my TikTok series on Boundaries!

A lot of times, we think about boundaries as “don’t touch my___!” And that’s valid! But, it’s also a VERY narrow definition. I like to think of Boundaries in 3 ways:

  • Content

  • Context

  • Physical

Content Boundaries

What are you performing? Are there content, themes, stories that you should not engage with, for your own well being? You may find certain things activating, or simply not be your favorite kind of story to tell. If you are working towards being anti-racist and equitable, you will have boundaries on representing characters who have been marginalized by the demographics you represent.

Context Boundaries

Where are you performing? And, who are you performing with? You may be fine being in a state of undress in a 3000 seat house, because the audience is far away from you, and not with undressing in a 100 seat house, where you and the audience can see each other’s pores! You may feel confident performing certain acts of simulated sex with a scene partner you’ve worked with before, but not be ready to do so with someone you just met.

Physical Boundaries

What is my body experiencing? I invite you to open up your idea of physical boundaries. Instead of just asking what you are willing to have done to your body, also ask:

What am I willing to have my body do?
What am I willing to do (with consent) to the bodies of others?

You may be up for all sorts of content, in all sorts of contexts, but never want your body to be suspended above the stage. You may feel confident in having your glutes slapped in the course of story-telling, but not want to perform that action on others.

If you found these questions helpful, head over to the Shop at MomentumStage.org and download the Boundaries Worksheet for FREE! Then you will have them at your fingertips the next time you go to an audition or take a call from your agent. Just use the code “TIKTOK” at checkout.

Intimacy Professional Office Hours

I’m holding two events for folks in South Florida Theatre and South Florida Film to be able to speak to an Intimacy Professional. This time is meant to discuss how an ID/IC can support a production, whether you are an actor, crew member, critic, or administrator.

Register over on the Events page for the one that you are interested in, or drop your question in the form, and I will answer it during our time together.

We are meeting virtually so folks from across the region can attend, and that folks who can’t attend can still get answers through the recording.

See you there!

Congratulations, Chris Molina!

I was really excited to see this week that Chris Molina was named Miami New Times Best Director for 2022!

Part of the win is because of Chris’s beautiful film, The Truth of a Thousand Nights, which I was honored to be the Intimacy Coordinator on. The Truth of a Thousand Nights also picked up a Grand Prize at the Miami Film Fest earlier this year.

But the other reason Chris won is because he is literally changing the face of Miami as a film town. In the past year Chris has created not 1, but 2 film festivals for Miami.

Chris is an incredible collaborator, and his work shows that. He is someone who knows that we are better together, and that when we build community and celebrate each other’s work, we all benefit. Chris is making the Miami film scene a better place to work, and I’m glad to know him!

Press Release for Borrowed, the Play, in Miami!

I’m honored to be a part of the team creating Borrowed, an immersive play in Miami, opening in late June. See my Events page for ticket info. Check out the Broadway World press release all about the play here.

The Meaning of Intimacy- Part 2

In an earlier post, I offered some different definitions of intimacy from various organizations in North America, as well as my own operating meaning of intimacy.

Something I left out of that post was “hyper-exposure”, which might be a new word for you! Hyper-exposure is the word that we use in intimacy to cover a lot of different situations. Here are some examples:

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April 2022 News Stories about Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

Bringing Consent to Ballet, One Intimacy Workshop at a Time. 13 April 2022. Laura Cappelle for the New York Times.

The Impact of Intimacy Direction on Educational Theatre. 14 April 2022. Kaila Roach for On Stage Blog.

What does an Intimacy Choreographer DO?!?!

I get this question a lot. And the answer is, “it depends”! on the production, on the director, on the format, so many things. So, I created a new page that can help give you some insight into what I can or might do for your production.

Whether you are in live performance (theatre, dance, opera) or film/TV, an intimacy professional can do a lot to support the artistry of the project and the health of the performers.

Also on this page is some FAQs about the work.

February 2022 News Stories About Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

Nick Offerman thanks Intimacy Coordinators for their work on “Pam and Tommy”. 3 February 2022. Watch it here.

Meet the Professionals Keeping Sex Safe on the Set. 15 February 2022. Pittsburgh Magazine. Read it here.

January 2022 News Stories About Intimacy Direction and Intimacy Coordination

The Golden Age of Nude Men. The Wall Street Journal. 26 January 2022.

Boston-area Intimacy Directors and Coordinators speak about their work. The Boston Globe. 3 January 2022.

The Meaning of Intimacy

When we talk about intimacy, what do we mean?

Often, when I talk about my work as an intimacy choreographer or intimacy coordinator, people also want to know- “What is the meaning of intimacy?”

Here are 2 definitions of intimacy, plus my own meaning of intimacy. Please note- all of these refer to onstage/onscreen intimacy.

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Interview about Consent in Dance Spaces

Did you catch me on IG live with Apolla Performance and Turning Point Dance? You can see the full discussion on boundaries, consent, agency, and touch in dance over on the Intimacy page. But here’s a teaser!

So What Does an Intimacy Choreographer DO?

Hopefully, by now, with Bridgerton putting Intimacy Coordination on the map, most folks know WHAT an Intimacy Professional is. But what does a job look like? The answer is, like most things “It depends!”

Lately, I’ve been getting calls for productions that are about to start, or have already started rehearsal. They have their cast, and they want me to come in and create a safe space to explore intimate movement. And this is great, and I love doing it! However, the job can be more than that, and is often more effective if I get to start earlier!

If a production hires me as soon as they know what show they are doing, and that they need an Intimacy Professional, I can help them create consent-based practices from even before day 1! Some of these things might look like:

  • Helping to craft or giving feedback on audition notices

  • Being present for auditions

  • Being present for callback- especially if touch may be part of the scene

  • Creating a breakdown of all intimate possibilities in the script (this doesn’t mean you have to use me for all of them, but I have found that most stories have waaaaaayyyyyyy more intimate moments than initially thought of)

  • Being a part of the scheduling process to handle the chosen moments with enough preparation and time

  • Attending launch events and talking to board and press about the production

  • Attending the first read-through

  • Conducting cast and/or company workshops on power and consent

  • Helping to create an atmosphere of transparency and trust

  • Having phone calls with actors to prep for work

All of these things could help the production be more cohesive and safe. They help build trust in the ensemble, with the Intimacy Professional as part of that. Much of this work I do not charge a separate fee for, because I consider it preparation for doing the best job I can do. So productions also get more for their investment when they bring me on from the top.

So, call me! And, for the quality of your production, the earlier, the better.

Motif Writing in Intimacy Choreography

A year of work, and another year of waiting, and my first peer-reviewed journal article has been published! In it I share my experience using Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LBMA) for Meaning-Making and Show Maintenance in Intimacy Choreographer for theatre productions. You can read it online in the Journal of Movement Arts Literacy.

Huge thanks to:

The cast and creative team of Measure for Measure’s In the Heights

The cast and creative team of TheatreLab’s The Glass Piano

My IMS cohort and faculty educators

Teresa Heiland, the editor of JMAL