Throughout the #MeToo movement, circa 2017, the film and television industry saw a major overhaul. One of the places this has become most clear is during the production of projects, all the way from development to press tour. Cast and crew alike are presented with a slew of tools to help mitigate possible wrongdoing, and among these tools, one reigns: the Intimacy Coordinator.

The intimacy coordinator is elusive, contemporary, and high-debated, though this stems from the job being often misunderstood by those it is created to serve. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) defines the intimacy coordinator as “an advocate, a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex, and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.”

It became clear that there was a large gap in the industry around sex scenes and the general comfort of actors and production during the depiction of them. 2017, as mentioned, was a formative year for closing said gap. Carey Dodd Associates, a London-based agency, started a campaign for intimacy coordination, as created by Ita O’Brien. O’Brien is Hollywood’s favorite intimacy coordinator, having worked on many projects: such as films We Live in Time and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and shows including Sex Education, Normal People, and I May Destroy You, the latter of which was an especially challenging project at a critical time.

I May Destroy You (2020) unpacks the trauma of sexual assault and its impacts over a twelve episode arc. O’Brien’s work was clearly necessary to ensure the integrity of the work, as she touches on in an interview with Esquire, “It's better quality; it's efficient; it's going to serve the beats of the scene; it's repeatable. When someone needs that emotional and psychological support, it’s important to take fifteen minutes.”

But the importance of intimacy coordinators has recently come into the spotlight following an episode of Variety’s Actors on Actors featuring The Last Showgirl’s Pamela Anderson and Anora’s Mikey Madison. Anora centers on a Brooklyn sex worker, the titular Anora (Madison), and her short-lived, tumultuous marriage to Ivan (Eydelshteyn), a Russian oligarch’s son. The film was rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, pervasive language, and drug use.”

Madison said, “For our film, it was a choice that I made; the filmmakers offered me, if I wanted, an intimacy coordinator. Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, and I decided it would be best to just keep it small. My character is a sex worker, and I had seen Sean [Baker]’s films and know his dedication to authenticity. I was ready for it. As an actress, I approached it as a job.”

The reaction to Madison’s comment was divided. Some believed her decision was fair as she felt safe and comfortable on set. One X user said, “she said sean asked if she wanted one and she AND mark decided they didn’t want one. like it’s as simple as that she made an informed decision about the work environment she wanted.” But others thought that intimacy coordinators should be on set regardless, with another X user saying, “How is it not like mandatory... Sure I'm happy she was comfortable with the actors and film crew...but everyone involved, from filmographers, directors, and actors should all be comfortable. Intimacy coordinators should be mandatory.”

Even intimacy coordinators chimed in. Talking to Variety, intimacy coordinator Marci Liroff said, “She’s empowered, she has autonomy within herself, and I totally get that. But an intimacy coordinator is not just there for the lead actors. … I admire Sean Baker as a filmmaker a lot, but what became really obvious to me is that he neglects to understand the power dynamics that are inherent on set. It is next to impossible for a performer to say no to someone who has hiring and firing power.”

Madison’s comment turned discourse never quite concluded to one common opinion, but it did open up the conversation around intimacy coordinators and how to create a safe on-set environment for everyone, not just the actors. Many began bringing up other recent movies that featured intimate scenes, such as Luca Guadagnino’s Queer and Halina Reijn’s Babygirl.

Queer, based on William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novella of the same name, follows the elusive love story between Americans Lee (Daniel Craig), an expat, and Allerton (Drew Starkey), a young ex-soldier, in 1950s Mexico City. The film has been described as Guagagnino’s most graphic, which is a strong statement when put against his other films such as Call Me By Your Name (2017) and Bones and All (2022).

The film, in its graphic nature, did employ an intimacy coordinator. Talking to IndieWire, Starkey said, “Daniel and I worked with an intimacy coordinator, but we were in movement rehearsals for like months before those shoots. …  It was with this amazing, beautiful dance, and choreography. We were comfortable. It was a lot of fun.” Starkey was open about the comfortability on set, and that while he didn’t need the intimacy coordinator, they were still present and available.

Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, which follows a CEO (Nicole Kidman) and her kinky affair with an intern (Harris Dickinson), also utilized an intimacy coordinator. The film is filled with boundary-pushing scenes and intense physicality, which Reijn says can only be achieved with the help of intimacy coordinators. Talking to IndieWire, she said, “You can get more extreme sex scenes that look way more risky than when you’re thinking ‘no, let the actresses find out themselves.”

Reijn has a particularly interesting relationship with sex and film, as she was an actress before making the change to directring in 2019 with Instinct. Reijn recalls her own acting career, before intimacy coordinators became the norm, “I’ve been an actress, so I’ve experienced a lot of men sitting in high chairs with North Face jackets, eating pizzas while I was crawling around like a turtle on my back.” Reijn describes that time as “incredibly traumatizing,” and says, “I wish I had one as an actress, but unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen.”

But it is clear that as a director, Reijn has made intimacy coordinators a priority, and was able to reach new heights in Babygirl with the help of intimacy coordinator Lizzie Talbot. Reijn continues, “I’m obsessed with intimacy coordinators. I’m in love with them, not only on set but what they can do with your writing. If you use them in the right way, they are just as useful as a stunt coordinator and just as important.”

Through the discourse stemming from Madison’s comment, a conversation has been opened in an attempt to answer the larger questions around safety, comfortability, and consent in television and film, and intimacy coordinators seem like a good place to start.