In 2017, actor Emily Meade was a series regular on the HBO series “The Deuce.” This series examined the daily life of several prostitutes and their harsh reality. When returning for season 2, Meade, along with several of the actors, complained to the executives that they were feeling unsafe on set and asked for an advocate. In that meeting, Meade basically described what an Intimacy Coordinator does on film and television sets and a new position was born. HBO brought in IC Alicia Rodis to work with the production team to create these scenes in a safe, creative, and productive way.
The production team and network executives were so thrilled with how safe and efficient these scenes became that HBO made it a company policy to hire an IC on all of their projects that contain intimate scenes and nudity.
Since then, several productions have hired ICs including Amazon, Netflix, HBO, Showtime, Starz, Apple TV, Hulu, Paramount TV, Facebook Watch, Legendary TV, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, Disney and Freeform.
Currently, we are in process working with SAG-AFTRA to codify and implement guidelines for on-set Intimacy Coordinators.
“Our goal is to normalize and promote the use of intimacy coordinators within our industry,” SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris said. “Intimacy coordinators provide an important safety net for our members doing hyper-exposed work. At a time when the industry still needs to make great changes, our initiative will ensure the safety and security of SAG-AFTRA members while they work and respects the boundaries of actors.”