In a move to enhance the professional status of intimacy coordinators, SAG-AFTRA has lodged a petition with the National Labor Relations Board. This representation is aimed at facilitating negotiations with leading Hollywood studios.
This advancement is a significant milestone in the union’s five-year endeavor to dignify the role of intimacy coordinators. These professionals serve as an essential bridge between actors and the production crew during the composition of explicit scenes.
If approved by the NLRB, SAG-AFTRA would be entitled to negotiate for base pay and suitable work conditions.
Marci Liroff, a seasoned intimacy coordinator in the cinema and television industry, stated, “We lack safeguarding measures. Furthermore, we don’t have health coverage or a retirement plan.”
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While HBO insists on employing intimacy coordinators during the filming of erotic scenes, this is not a common requirement across the industry. However, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA contract maintains that producers should make their “best efforts” to hire an IC for scenes that engage nudity or sensual acts. The clause further states that any actor’s request for an IC should be entertained in “good faith” without fear of reprisal.
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The collective representative of major studios in the negotiation process, The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, has thus far declined to acknowledge intimacy coordinators voluntarily. Following the submission of the petition to the NLRB, a vote must be held by the prospective bargaining group to approve SAG-AFTRA’s representation.
In her statement, Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president, emphasized the role of intimacy coordinators as a safety blanket for actors in precarious scenarios.
In her own words, “Undertaking the task of shifting a power imbalance entrenched over centuries is challenging yet vital. This task can be accomplished even more effectively with the backing of a union. Intimacy coordinators have our back on the set, and now, it’s our time to support them.”
SAG-AFTRA issued a set of guidelines for intimacy coordinators in 2020. This was followed by the constitution of an accreditation program and an official directory in 2021, listing around 70 members in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other regions. In the following year, an invitation was extended to intimacy coordinators to join the union.
Credit: variety.com
