SAG-AFTRA is following HBO and Directors UK’s lead. Hollywood’s largest union has published a four-page guide on how best to utilize intimacy coordinators — i.e. professionals who help performers, directors, producers, and crew members navigate nudity and sex scenes — and therefore make on-set work environments safer for its members. SAG announced the “Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators” via a press release.
The new standards will “allow productions to run more efficiently, provide a safety net for performers, and establish specialized support that empowers both cast and crew,” SAG declared. They were created with input from experienced intimacy coordinators and representatives from Intimacy Directors International and the Intimacy Professionals Association.
“It has been powerful to collaborate with our industry partners as we work to standardize the protocols for industry coordinators,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. “These protocols and guidelines will help to normalize and encourage the use of intimacy coordinators in productions therefore ensuring the safety and security of SAG-AFTRA members while they work.”
As outlined in the guide, coordinators will work with actors, directors, and assistant directors to review nudity riders, content requiring on-set intimacy, and modesty garments, among other responsibilities.
“I’m excited about the release of SAG-AFTRA’s guidelines for intimacy coordination because I think it signals to the industry just how important it is to do what we can to make sets safer and to protect performers,” explained Intimacy Professionals Association founder Amanda Blumenthal. “Additionally, I think that these guidelines strike the right balance between describing the roles and responsibilities of intimacy coordinators while still allowing for flexibility from show-to-show so that the process can be customized to work with each unique production.”
In fall 2018 HBO announced that all its shows would bring on intimacy coordinators to oversee sex scenes. Last November Directors UK, the United Kingdom’s association of screen directors, published “Directing Nudity & Simulated Sex,” a framework for directors filming nudity and sex scenes. They are the first standards of their kind in the UK.
Since the rise of #MeToo, SAG-AFTRA has introduced several new protocols with the aim of making workplaces safer in show business. The union unveiled the Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment nearly two years ago, which features the “Four Pillars of Change,” guidelines on how SAG-AFTRA will fight the culture of harassment. SAG has also banned auditions in hotel rooms and residences, locations associated with many incidents of sexual harassment and assault, particularly those perpetrated by Harvey Weinstein. This rule is called Guideline No. 1.
Go to SAG-AFTRA’s website to read the “Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators” document or find more information.
