Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Why Every Production Should Hire an Intimacy Director
Playbill: In the wake of #MeToo and #TimesUp, the entertainment industry initially had a reckoning with the casting process. But over time, questions about what actors were being asked to do for their jobs arose. Physical and emotional intimacy—as well as violence—take place on sets and in rehearsal rooms regularly, yet actors have often been left to figure it out themselves. Enter the intimacy director.
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8 comments:
This has definitely been a topic of conversation within our community here at Carnegie Mellon, and I think it is most definitely something that should be integrated into all productions. I like how Betancourt defines intimacy direction as facilitating or supporting any content that feels intimate rather than just sex or things directly associated to sex. As the article talks about, the integration of fight chorographers into more dynamic and all inclusive positions that can be more soundly called violence directors is equally important. In all our work, we want to ensure that everyone is safe and protected. We should always be creating the safest possible environments, and we shouldn’t be putting all the pressure of doing so on one individual (the director). By spreading that responsibility over multiple people, and even more so, people who are explicitly trained to monitor this type of environment that we are creating, we can truly begin fostering the types of environments that we so often talk about wanting to create.
This article brings up a lot of great points, and I really do agree that an intimacy director should be involved in pretty much every show. Throughout time the people thought to be a staple of every production has changed and more people have been added to that list. So I see no reason why an intimacy director can’t be the next person to be considered essential on a production. The point this article talks about that I think is so important is that the intimacy director is not the director of the show. I think there needs to be a person whose main purpose is really to keep everyone in the room physically and emotionally safe and that person can’t be the person whose goal is to create a good show. For too long theatre spaces and rehearsal spaces have not felt like a safe place for too many people, and I think it is great that the industry is starting to focus on that and make the change necessary for theatre to be safe and welcoming for everyone. An intimacy director will not fix every problem in theatre but they will help make every rehearsal space and process safer and better for everyone and in no way is that a bad thing.
I think that something I would like to see much more of in the entertainment industry and particularly in the theater is for theater companies across the globe to start hiring resident intimacy directors. I think that in recent years, the psychological effects of working in the theater is starting to take a toll on its participants and one of the clearest examples of that is seen in how we treat shows that have heavy and intimate moments. I think that without these policies and these people in place, the work can easily turn into a hunting ground for sexual harassment. As the article points out, this goes beyond safety- having a person who is well versed in this type of language on the team that is in an objective perspective allows the show or piece to adopt a layer of truth to their story telling. I'm a strong advocate for not only hiring intimacy directors and choreographers, but making sure that everyone in the industry knows that they do.
3) The field of Intimacy Choreography deserves a great amount of respect and holds so much weight in the rehearsal room. At its core Intimacy Choreography is all about giving actors autonomy back of their own bodies and give actor’s their voices back since they are most often the most vulnerable people in the room. Having a consent-based practice be a part of every show and theatre company in the world would be such a huge progressive step for actor’s safety. There are too many horror stories of actors coming up with their own intimacy choreography with no appropriate guidance from a director or intimacy choreographer, and the trauma and discomfort that came from these situations that still affect them greatly. Giving actors an intimacy choreographer ensures that they will be creating sustainable acts of theatrical intimacy that are catered to their personal boundaries, as well as giving them back up plans of choreography if those boundaries should ever change. All too often actors are being put in dangerous situations just because they fear losing their jobs or not getting work again. Intimacy choreography ensures that actors will never be put in these situations ever again, and will help create an industry that is healing and ready for the future.
Like other people have said, intimacy choreographers are incredibly important when it comes to theatre and it’s good that they’re being talked about more. There have been a lot of problems with assault, uncomfortable, or even abusive situations in shows and movies because of the lack of understanding or awareness to this kind of thing. I like that the article talks about intimacy as being more than just interactions that are sexual since even slight touches can be a lot depending on the person. I know for me personally I’m not often that comfortable with doing more than shaking hands with someone. I also think that it breeds a more productive environment since I think people tend to do better work when they’re comfortable with what’s happing around them. I understand that sometimes people are concerned with things looking too “clinical” or unnatural, but I think that making sure the REAL actors and people don’t feel violated is more important than part of a scene in something.
I LOVE the idea of having intimacy directors for all projects. This could do so much good in helping actors feel sage while working, and also preserving the tone for romantic, sensual, or violent scenes. This could really take the weight off the actors’ shoulders. I think it so important for consent to be asked for and granted and re-established during the blocking and rehearsal of all scenes. The safety of the actors should be and is always the number one priority. If actors’ safety is being prioritized, there should always be an intimacy director for every project. I think it’s interesting how they pointed out the difference between violence direction and fight choreography. Because of the power dynamic between directors and actors in Hollywood, it could be really beneficial to have a second opinion when it comes to intimacy work and adding another voice to the room. I wonder just how many actors would have been protected had this position existed a few years ago.
Intimacy and violence directors are a must for any production in my opinion. All actors, actresses, and crew members deserve to feel comfortable in the spaces and situations their work takes place in. Especially when you are talking about things like sex and violence, it's easy for the creative vision to overstep the physical and emotional boundaries of the people that actually have to make that vision a reality. The mentality that you have to accept anything that is asked of you as an actor/actress without complaint for the sake of your career is just disgusting and outdated. Even from the production perspective, respecting the boundaries of all involved is in everyone's best interest. You can't expect people to put forward their best work when they are worried about what might happen to them or their bodies or they feel uncomfortable. It makes me really happy to see the work of intimacy and violence directors highlighted in such a reputable source for the entertainment world because it needs to get even more into the mainstream. People need to feel respected and comfortable and having people involved in the production that are specifically meant to facilitate that comfort is an important step in the right direction for the entertainment industry as a whole.
I think it is crazy to not have an intimacy director and fight choreographer as a part of your production if those acts are a part of the show. It is also important for our definition of what constitutes as intimacy to expand for the safety of everyone on set. Having someone on set whose top priority is keep the actors physically and mentally safe is absolutely necessary to a successful production. We need to stop looking at actors and technicians as just labour and start seeing them as human beings. Actors have to constantly be vulnerable while performing and a scene with intimacy or violence can be extremely triggering without the actor even anticipating it to happen. If that is mixed with a director who is on a time crunch and needs to balance 10 trillion things, the actor will be told to shut up and keep going. The intimacy director allows the actor to feel respected and comfortable before even having to approach the situation, if they know that there is someone who will focus on their wellbeing then they will perform their craft better. The industry is taking steps towards this however I think it should be a hard, fast rule that there must be an intimacy director on production.
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