The New York Times: It takes a lot of people to make a movie. You’ve got the director for overall vision, the gaffer on the lights, the set decorators to add texture to the film’s world, and the costume designers to envision the actors’ looks.
And when those costumes come off and things start to get a bit steamy? That’s where Jessica Steinrock comes in.
2 comments:
The work that Jessica Steinrock is doing is wonderful and admirable. I love that Ms. Steinrock has been a part of the creation of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators who are pushing for this to be an Equity position. I know here in the School of Drama stage managers take a class on Equity and I believe it includes some of the basics on intimacy training, which is good, but I hope performers are also given this opportunity so they understand the basics and can advocate for themselves.
It is important to note that the leaders of I.D.C. are aware that their group mostly consists of white, heterosexual, cis-women and are trying to expand to fit more demographics.
I think this change is not only rooted in the MeToo movement, but also in a post-pandemic world. Even physical contact like a friendly pat on the shoulder didn’t happen for eighteen months. This kind of reset of our societal norms has made people more understanding about the need for intimacy training even for simpler scenes.
Jessica’s work and social media was some of the first introductions I have had two intimacy coordinators. And I think it’s some really important for our industry to understand what exactly that message coordinator is there to do because it is crucial part of making sure everybody feel safe and cared for while on set or a while on stage. I really think this is something important for Costume Designer‘s to learn as well, because if the production cannot have an intimacy coordinator, all set, a lot of those responsibilities will fall under the Costume teams, so making sure that you have proper undergarments and specially designed articles of clothing that make it safe for actors to do this kind of work, intimacy is some thing that we’ve also talked a lot about in the entire racist and equitable practices class. And I am continuing to learn it to be more than simply have sex scenes work, and how any kind of intimacy from something as little as someone touching your hair is important to be talked through choreographed to the comfort of the actors.
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