geoff: In the aftermath of the
me-too movement, a new field has
come to prominence in the film
and theater industries, intimacy
coordinators and directors.
This role puts a focus on
consent and safety for actors,
and the production teams.
Jeffrey brown has a look as part
of our arts and culture series,
canvas.
Jeffrey: The touch of a face,
clasping hands, an embrace.
It's a different kind of
choreography on set or stage,
one of intimacy.
And a new kind of training of
what are called intimacy
coordinators in TV and film, and
intimacy directors in theater.
>> Intimacy coordinators and
intimacy directors help make
intimate scenes look real when
they're actually fake.
Jeffrey: Jessica steinrock
started her company IDC in 2019
to certify and bring more people
into this growing field.
She herself has worked on
showtime's yellowjackets,
Netflix's never have I ever, and
hulu's little fires everywhere.
>> We are actor advocates.
We are liaisons for the sets and
the crew, and we are also there
as choreographers to help set
movement and make sure that
everybody's boundaries are
respected in the creative
process.
Jeffrey: We watched a recent
class in New York led by Claire
warden, an actor turned intimacy
director and coordinator
to teach some of the
fundamentals of movement, but
also how to watch carefully and
talk through issues with actors
and directors.
>> We're also physical
storytellers.
So we're creating agreements of
movement or choreography
sometimes in order to keep the
clarity about physical
storytelling and the boundaries
that have been agreed on by the
actors telling that story
consistent.
Jeffrey: Do you see this as a
real sea change in Hollywood and
theater?
>> Oh, 100%.
Physically having this new role
dramatically alters the
landscape of entertainment,
creates space for conversation
where before there was less
space.
Jeffrey: It's an industry in
which everyone understands the
meaning of the casting couch,
and stories abound of actors
being surprised, taken advantage
of, traumatized.
Then-19-year-old Maria Schneider
in 1973's last tango in Paris
said she felt, quote, a little
raped in a scene with Marlon
brando.
Director Bernardo bertolucci
would later admit he did not
tell Schneider ahead of time how
he wanted the scene to unfold.
Actress Sharon stone has said
she was told parts of her body
would not be shown in a scene in
1992's basic instinct, but later
found out that wasn't the case.
>> For every story that the
public get to hear, there are
tens, hundreds of thousands of
stories that we don't get to
hear from similar people.
Jeffrey: This past January, the
leads in 1968's Romeo and
Juliet, Olivia Hussey and
Leonard whiting, filed a lawsuit
against paramount for
exploitation and using nude
images of them, teenagers at the
time, they were told wouldn't be
used in the film.
A California judge recently
ruled the case could not go
forward, citing first amendment
and technical barriers.
A lawyer for the actors said
they would file a new suit in
federal court.
>> There's a lot of potential
for danger and coercion.
Jeffrey: Kristy guevara-flanagan
is a professor of film, TV and
digital media at UCLA.
She directed body parts, a
documentary that depicts the
history of sex on screen.
Directors, historians, and
actors including Jane fonda,
Rosanna Arquette, and rose
Mcgowan share their experiences
in the industry.
>> There's so much power
differential in Hollywood, I
think.
Young women were feeling like
they didn't know how to navigate
this, that they were feeling
pressure, and that they felt
like they didn't have a lot of
options.
Jeffrey: As far back as 1967,
sag-aftra, the union
representing thousands of
actors, developed the nudity
rider, a legal agreement used to
clarify parameters of filming an
intimate scene.
As of 2020, these riders are now
decided upon 48 hours in
advance.
But Jessica steinrock says
things can still change in the
intensity of the moment.
>> There's a lot of money
involved, a lot of crunch time
involved.
And when we have power dynamics,
we also have opportunities for
folks to lose their ability to
give consent.
And so, what the intimacy
professional really does is help
reconstruct the entertainment
landscape so that everybody is
really excited and feels
consenting about what those
actions are going to be on any
given day.
Jeffrey: A recent turning point,
HBO's 2018 the deuce, a drama
series set amid the pornography
industry in 1970's New York,
it took on a coordinator after
actress Emily Meade spoke out
about issues on set.
HBO then began to require
coordinators on all productions
with intimate scenes, helping to
set a new standard throughout
the industry.
>> The main thing that allowed
for this was really the time's
up and me-too movement and the
Harvey Weinstein scandal coming
to light.
People were finally having to
answer to these questions of
like, what has been happening on
their own sets?
Where have people not felt
protected, and what can be done?
Jeffrey: Sarah Polley, who began
acting as a child, has written
of traumatic situations she was
put in during filming, in her
case, not involving sex.
Now a director herself, that's
influenced how she runs her
sets.
We spoke recently about her
oscar-nominated film, women
talking.
>> I think for so long now it's
been considered a badge of honor
to tell war stories as a
filmmaker about the way you
manipulated people or betrayed
people or told them something
when something else was actually
happening in order to get a
great moment.
But I'm always curious if those
same filmmakers could remake
their films and behave with a
certain amount of decency and
care, I wonder if they'd make
even better films, even the good
ones.
I wonder if they would have been
better if people had felt safe.
We'll never know.
Jeffrey: Speaking recently to
actress Rachel Mcadams about her
new film, are you there god?
It's me, Margaret, I also asked
about the new, higher-profile
role of intimacy coordinators.
>> I feel like the intimate
scenes I've done that have gone
have been most successful have
been very well choreographed.
I don't think it takes anything
away.
I think it's totally additive
and I'm really glad it's a part
of the business now and I think
it should always be there as an
option.
Jeffrey: Back at the workshop,
student ariella Salinas Fiore
says her desire to do this work
was shaped by her experience as
an actor, director and producer.
>> Yeah, because I did come from
this mentality of no, you just
say yes.
You just do the work.
You don't need to do, you know,
be difficult.
And me myself realizing, well,
maybe there is a better way.
Jeffrey: Shelby Terrell, another
trainee, agrees.
>> If we can practice these
things in our daily lives,
normalize it and create a
culture of consent in our lives,
in TV and film on set, it will
just change the culture and
change lives.
Jeffrey: Jessica steinrock says
she, too, hopes intimacy
coordinators become the rule,
not the exception.
>> We have animal wranglers and
stunt coordinators and if
there's children on set, there's
a specialist for that.
These scenes are so complicated
and vulnerable, it's almost
shocking that we haven't had
specialized support in these
scenes until now.
Jeffrey: For the "Pbs newshour,"