Stunt Coordinators... But For Intimacy.

Here is another excerpt from my research Project looking into the importance of Intimacy Coordinators.

"In regard to specialists from other production departments, a comparison can be drawn from the safeguarding of the cast and crew from physical injuries such as those resulting from weapons, and the psychological injuries caused by inappropriately directed intimate scenes. Any large budget action movie would have specialists whose focus is to make sure the right weapons are being used in the right way and being portrayed accurately. For instance, Mission: Impossible – Fallout (McQuarrie, 2018) employed 6 armourers to be responsible for all the weapons used within the film. Why should it be any different for intimacy? It could be argued that one reason is due to the differing attitudes to physical and emotional injuries. Actors would never be given a weapon and just told to improvise with it, as this could physically damage another person. Yet, all too often actors will be placed in a vulnerable situation where they are expected to be intimate with another actor, whilst also being exposed with a level of nudity and they are expected to improvise. While this might not pose any physical risk to anyone else, the psychological risk could be shattering, with long lasting effects of sexual assault including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders (Rainn, 2020), which can consequently affect one’s career and relationships."