In conversation with Ita O'Brien - Intimacy Coordinator behind the intimate scenes in I May Destroy You, Normal People and Sex Education

F: What are the Intimacy On Set Guidelines and what are their purpose?

I: The Intimacy On Set Guidelines offer best practice when working with intimacy, simluted sex scenes, and nudity for theatre, TV or film productions. They help to ensure the director’s vision is served, and puts in place a professional structure allowing for agreement and consent of touch, simulated sexual content and of nudity, and clear choreography providing a physical structure for the intimate content so that an actor can bring all their skill of acting to the intimate content.

F: Why have productions not implemented these guidelines in the past?

I: In the past, intimate content, whether it be in a play, TV or film was not considered a risk and as such, no structure was put in place. It was just an ignored area. It was not considered a skill in the same way a fight or a dance was, like a movement skill to be choreographed. However, just like a fight, or dance, simulated sex scenes is about body movement, and should be given a professional structure and clear choreography in the same way.

The other aspect is that people are often embarrassed to talk about intimate content in an open and adult way, what we have seen is that because of this embarrassment, how to do those scenes are simply not addressed.

Another element is that there is an absolute risk when working with intimate content because the actor’s personal and private intimate body is at play. Part of what we work hard to do is to separate out the professional from the private body.

F: How do you create intimate content within best-practice?

I: With a dance or a fight, production will put aside a budget to teach the actors how to dance or fight and make time for those meetings with the director and the production from the get-go. The choreographer will create the dance and then rehearse it with the actors and by the time it is to be placed in front of the camera everyone is ready to perform at their best abilities. It is exactly the same with intimate content. A production should bring in an intimate coordinator to choreograph the intimate content and ideally brought in at the earliest stages of pre-production as possible.

F: How does the Costume Department work with the Intimacy Coordinator?

I: Wardrobe are experts in supporting actors who are about to perform intimate scenes. I will work with wardrobe to ensure that they have all the genitalia coverings and modesty garments for the actors, and make sure that they are wearing the right nudity clothing and modesty garments for each scene.

F: What is a good-practice closed set?

I: If you have a single camera shot, the people that should be in the space are the Director , the 1st AD, the camera operator, the focus puller and in some cases the boom operator because with some of the intimate sex scenes you cannot place mics directly on the bodies. Wardrobe and the Intimacy Coordinator are also present. Monitor-wise, it should only be the Director, script supervisor's and the DoP’s monitor on. If there is no dialogue, then that is it. The boom operator’s monitor should be off. If, however, there is dialogue, then they should also have a monitor and it would also be flagged off. All other monitors should be turned off. Video village, wardrobe and make-up should also be turned off.

There could be a situation where perhaps the make-up department, for example, might need their monitors on too, but for this we would get agreement and consent from the actor(s).

What you want to avoid at all times is having passing crew able to see a monitor and watch the intimate scene. It is important that only the monitors with prior consent and agreement are kept on and flagged off.

The actors feel more comfortable and feel that their intimacy and nudity is being respected and that it is just for the eyes of the people who are essential.

It is also really important that the rushes are marked “restricted” and if possible, that the actors are the first to view the content before it moves into post-production. At all times giving the actors agreement and consent.

When it is a single camera shot, these guidelines are quite straightforward. It gets more complicated when it is a multi-camera and moving cameras. It is key to keep revising and making sure who actually needs to be in the room and clarity and communication is key and that the closed-set is respected and honoured.

F: Talk to us about your recent projects, TV Series Normal People (Directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald).

I: I was the lead Intimacy Coordinator.

F: How involved were you in the pre-production process?

I: On this production Lenny invited me to share the work with Paul and Daisy during the rehearsal period, and then we all worked together on one of the major scenes so that the process and structure of the intimacy guidelines were understood, giving them confidence and preparation to go into filming.

F: Whilst working on set, did you come across any challenges/obstacles? If so, how did you overcome them?

I: On this particular production there really weren’t many challenges as the work was understood by the whole of the production team, they listened and it meant that we had a full and robust working practice put in place right from the start. And with each of the scenes we focused on the development of Connell and Marianne’s character, which was key to each intimate moment. In this way we were working at all times on the development of the storytelling. I guess one challenge in this work is when a new character comes in, at that point we need to go back to square one, but again this isn’t necessarily a challenge, it is very much part of the work, part of what we do.

F: How was it working with the actors?

I: It was wonderful. All of us, the director, Paul and Daisy, we all shared a love of the book, of Sally’s writing. And Paul and Daisy had such a great, professional working relationship with each other, that it was a total joy to work on. The process felt seamless, supporting Paul and Daisy and helping to realise Lenny’s vision so we could all create the best work possible.

F: Describe your work relationship with the Director?

I: I felt very privileged to be able to work with Lenny - a director right at the top of his game. His wealth of experience really shone on set, he had a real beautiful process and was really collaborative. It was a joy to support his vision.

Working on Normal People has been so fantastic, it has really demonstrated the importance of the work of the Intimacy Coordinator, what we can bring to set. I have been developing the Intimacy on Set guidelines since 2016 but it wasn’t since #MeToo and TIMES UP that the value of our work was really recognised by industry. My first job as an Intimacy Coordinator on set, was in April 2018 and my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. I set up Intimacy on Set, which houses the guidelines and to help support the growing demand of this work and we are now training intimacy coordinators all over the world.