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“Intimacy co-ordinator” for HBO sex scenes

HBO takes steps to prevent abuse during sex scenes on-set.

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In a new move in the US industry, all HBO productions will now have an “intimacy co-ordinator” for sex scenes.

The steps, which come a year after the fallout of #MeToo, seek to ensure standards and prevent abuse during all sexual scenes on-set.

HBO trialled the concept on the second season of porn industry drama The Deuce with intimacy coordinator Alicia Rodis.

Rodis has previously worked on intimate scenes on Crashing, the upcoming Watchmen series and the Deadwood movie. She is now training others in the duties.

Deuce co-creator David Simon has said, “….we knew we were asking a lot of actors and directors and crew in terms of professionalism and to deliver this material bluntly and honestly. But you can ask all you want — at a certain point everybody has to trust everybody.”

In Australia duty of care usually lays with producers and directors, with sex scenes as closed sets (essential staff only). But there have also been incidents over the years where actors are pressured into compromising situations. Given the risks involved it may not be long before intimacy co-ordinators are added to Australian crewing.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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  1. Playing devil’s advocate while putting my screenwriter’s cap on, when glanced through the prism of #MeToo this is probably a dissenting opinion, but written effectively an intimate scene has the potential to open a myriad of options for the production. Why spend precious minutes and pages establishing a character’s arc, demeanour and motivations when through an intimate scene all of that can be encapsulated in a few sentences.

    An intimate scene also has the ability to solidify the character’s sense of self. The moulding of an audience’s emotional reaction to characters, their circumstance or their environment can be critical. Sometimes it can be the only way for an audience to engage – even if it’s only in a binary fashion – with a character. You almost have to think along the lines of “how would this play to an audience without an intimate scene?”

    Now, I’ve been…

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