The New York Times: On a Saturday afternoon in November, Chelsea Pace marched through a thickly wooded area in a park in Ossining, N.Y., toward two actors in Revolutionary War-era dress sitting in a pile of leaves. They were shooting a short film by a young director named Ethan Fuirst about soldiers who meet by chance and have a tryst in the forest. Pace is an intimacy coordinator: a professional facilitator of simulated sex and nudity in theater and film.
5 comments:
This article is incredibly powerful. First of all, I had no idea that this new position existed but it is kind of crazy to think that it didn't exist before now that I know about it. With the #MeToo movement's impact on almost every aspect of how we handle interpersonal relationships in the entertainment industry, it only makes sense that we would be adjusting how we handle possibly the most intimate aspect of a performer's job. I was especially impacted by the actress' comment that she "didn’t want to have to shut down and dissociate in order to do [her] job." Telling performers to just 'go for it' is not only problematic for the positions it can potentially put actors in, but I also feel like being in that situation must be very confusing even if the chemistry between the actors is good. If you want to create a good product in a reasonable amount of time, it makes sense for there to be someone choreographing the sequence who understands what will make the scene intimate without requiring real intimacy that could make the performers uncomfortable. One of the situations discussed in the article shows that not choreographing this type of scene can lead to confusion and delay the process. And finally, in the discussion of power dynamics in scenes that are often played out with themes of a man having a position of power over a woman, having another person in the mix can at least begin to diffuse the tension in those situations and make some progress in how we perceive those scenes as an audience, especially if the director/coordinator is a woman who brings that perspective into the scene.
This role as “intimacy director” or “intimacy coordinator” seems like it should be of paramount importance to any production, film or theatre, which has any intimate or (simulated) explicit content. And yet, I have never heard of this new profession until now. There are countless live shows, television shows, and more which contain these sorts of scenes which would require a person of this nature, and yet, only recently has this job started to become more mainstream. I just recently watched Euphoria on HBO, and as with many HBO shows, it was extremely sexually explicit, and the intimate scenes seemed very real, and now it I know why. I personally could not imagine being an actor in such a revealing position, but I can see how the employment of an intimacy coordinator could make these scenes much easier. In addition, such a coordinator would know how to make a scene look good from any angle while also easily being able to tell if an actor is uncomfortable and working around a specific position if need be. It is a shame that this emerging job is only becoming mainstream in the wake of the #MeToo movement. We should have seen this problem coming sooner to potentially even have prevented many of the #MeToo cases, but regardless, it is important that this job is now so widely recognized for just how important it is.
As is with a fight director, the role of intimacy coordinators and directors is becoming crucial to any sort of entertainment that shows two characters being intimate with each other. This article covers the importance of this role in the era of MeToo, and the responsibility of the production to ensure that both actors feel safe while preforming something that is extremely vulnerable, especially in front of a camera or an audience. One actor described their whole experience changing because in the past she felt that when presented with a sex scene the answer was either yes or no, and if she said yes she had limited power to indicate the line between comfortable and uncomfortable. I also thought that it was interesting to see the ways in which this role in a production is changing the way sex is portrayed in film and on stage to show a more realistic view, rather than a glorified “beautiful” action which is often seen in early movies where women are portrayed as powerless over their male partner. I am very happy to see that Intimacy coaching and choreography is becoming universal across the industry.
I believe the industry is moving in the right direction by requiring an intimacy director in the case of a scene that involves physical intimacy between two actors. I think by being more conscious regarding the modern culture of consent, the me-too movement, respect, and safety, hopefully the performance industry will be moving towards a more safe and professional environment when it comes to intimacy on stage. Like is says in the article, I believe that the safety and the mental health of the performers come first, and ensuring that they are secure should be a priority for directors and producers. To know that your higher-ups care about you as a person and want to preserve your mentality and limits I think, would ensure a layer of security and trust between performers and directors. another benefit of an intimacy director, as said in the article, is that sex scenes will likely appear more natural, realistic, and believable. This said, the intimacy director will ensure that no actor is put at risk for the sake of said realism.
I believe the industry is moving in the right direction by requiring an intimacy director in the case of a scene that involves physical intimacy between two actors. I think by being more conscious regarding the modern culture of consent, the me-too movement, respect, and safety, hopefully the performance industry will be moving towards a more safe and professional environment when it comes to intimacy on stage. Like is says in the article, I believe that the safety and the mental health of the performers come first, and ensuring that they are secure should be a priority for directors and producers. To know that your higher-ups care about you as a person and want to preserve your mentality and limits I think, would ensure a layer of security and trust between performers and directors. another benefit of an intimacy director, as said in the article, is that sex scenes will likely appear more natural, realistic, and believable. This said, the intimacy director will ensure that no actor is put at risk for the sake of said realism.
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