HBO says ‘intimacy coordinators’ will supervise sex scenes on its movies and TV shows
HBO is hiring “intimacy coordinators” to watch over the filming of sex scenes on its TV shows and movies, the network announced last week.
An intimacy coordinator was on set during the filming of the second season of the HBO drama, “The Deuce,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The drama, from “The Wire” creators David Simon and George Pelecanos, follows the fledgling days of the porn culture in New York in the 1970s and ‘80s. James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in the show.
Alicia Rodis, co-founder of the nonprofit Intimacy Directors International, is HBO’s first intimacy coordinator, Rolling Stone reported. The group “aims to normalize a set of standards and practices surrounding the execution of sex scenes on stage and on film,” according to the magazine.
On the set of “The Deuce,” Rodis “reviews scripts, discusses the sex scenes before they are filmed and talks to the actors individually, coordinating their activities,” according to Deadline entertainment web site.
Since working on that show, Rodis has also worked on the sets of HBO’s “Crashing, the upcoming Watchmen series and the Deadwood movie,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Rodis is additionally training new intimacy coordinators to be on hand during the production of the upcoming crime drama, Jett, and the Drake executive-produced high school series Euphoria.”
Intimacy coordinators have been used “in the theater world for years, but (are) new to film and television,” according to Deadline. “The #MeToo movement and subsequent increased sensitivity to such issues, but it was actress Emily Meade of The Deuce that pushed the idea forward.”
Meade plays a young porn star on the show.
Last winter, during the birth of the #MeToo movement and growing concerns over how actresses are treated in Hollywood, Meade asked HBO to place an advocate on sets to help during the filming of sex scenes, according to Rolling Stone.
Meade told the magazine that even though she’s done sex scenes since she was 16, they’ve always made her feel uneasy, alone and even cold — “physically or emotionally.”
“I started thinking about how when you’re doing a stunt of any kind, even as simple as crossing the street with cars, or if there’s a child or animal on set, there are people who legally have to be there to protect and facilitate. People who have expertise,” Meade said in an interview with HBO.com.
“And yet when it comes to sexuality, which is one of the most vulnerable things for all humans, men and women, there’s really no system. There’s never been a person required to be there to protect and bring expertise.”
She said she went “directly” to show creators Simon and Pelecanos and HBO executives “and told them I’d feel much more comfortable if there was some sort of advocate purely for the sexual scenes — especially on a show where not just my character, but everybody on the show has so much sex,” she told HBO.com.
Meade described Rodis to Rolling Stone as “like a mother or a sister on set” who looks out for her and other actors.
“Even I didn’t understand the scope of just how much this had been ignored, and for how long,” Rodis, a former actor, told Rolling Stone. “There is such a power dynamic on sets, so much pressure and this sense that (as an actor) you just suck it up and do it.”
Rodis told HBO.com that not only does she work with multiple people on the set - from the actors themselves to the wardrobe department - she always arrives prepared.
“I have a kit with everything from breath fresheners to antiseptic wipes, things to allow people to be more comfortable,” she told HBO.com.
“Creating art can be uncomfortable, and that’s OK: I’m there to make sure you’re safe. And if I can hand you some breath mints while we’re there for extra comfort, great.”