To make a movie you need a lot of people.
There is the director for the overview, the illuminator for the lights, the decorators for adding texture to the world of the film, and the costume designers for imagining the actors' outfits.
And when those outfits come off and things start to escalate?
Students practice giving and receiving consent during a workshop on privacy and consent at the University of Illinois, (Mary Mathis/The New York Times)
That's where Jessica Steinrock comes in.
Steinrock is an
intimacy coordinator
—or intimacy director, when working in theater and live performances—who facilitates the production of scenes involving nudity, simulated sex, or hyperexposure, which she defines as "something that someone else wouldn't discover." in public, even if it is not legal nudity.”
Much like a
stunt coordinator
or fight director, she makes sure the actors are safe throughout the entire process and that the scene is
believable.
This function has grown in importance in the last five years.
As the entertainment industry reeled from the litany of abuses brought to light by the
#MeToo
movement , many productions were eager to publicly demonstrate their commitment to safety.
Two students practice giving and receiving consent during a workshop on privacy and consent given by Jessica Steinrock.
(Mary Mathis/The New York Times)
Hiring a privacy coordinator was one way to do it.
“A lot of places were really excited about the possibility of this work and being on the cutting edge, showing that their company cared about their actors, cared about consent,” Steinrock said in a Zoom interview from his home in Chicago.
Steinrock, who has worked on such projects as Showtime's acclaimed survival drama "
Yellowjackets
," Netflix's teen dramedy "
Never Have I Ever
" and the Hulu miniseries "
Little Fires Everywhere
," has been involved in coordinating intimacy since the beginning.
The industry took off in large part thanks to the highly publicized work of privacy coordinator Alicia Rodis on the HBO series “
The Deuce
” in 2018.
Jessica Steinrock, executive director of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.
(Mary Mathis/The New York Times)
At the time, Steinrock, whose background was improvisational comedy, was working on a master's degree in dramatic arts at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus, focused on navigating issues of consent
in
that space.
"In the world of improvisation, they touched me a lot, kissed me, grabbed me or made jokes about me that I did not consent to," he recalled in a TikTok video
.
Various clothing and modesty barriers, such as bags, pads and strapless thongs.
(Mary Mathis/The New York Times)
"And I was very curious if there were ways to handle it better."
The issue was especially thorny in improvisation, which is based on a philosophy of accepting and building on what your scene partner gives you.
“You end up in uncomfortable or even damaging positions because the whole culture is about saying, 'Yes, and…',” said Valleri Robinson, head of the university's theater department, who advised Steinrock on her master's and doctoral degrees.
“He really started to realize that this was a problematic way of creating art.”
Steinrock and Rodis met through Steinrock's then-boyfriend, now her husband, who is a fight director.
Jessica Steinrock, executive director of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, teaches a workshop on intimacy and consensual behavior at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois.
(Mary Mathis/The New York Times)
Rodis recognized a kindred spirit in Steinrock, with all the qualities of a great intimacy coordinator.
She was Steinrock's mentor in her first job:
an
orgy of 40 people
in the TNT series “Claws”.
“They put her in the lion's den and she triumphed,” Rodis recalled.
Steinrock soon became a leader in this burgeoning field and now spends much of his time educating people about it.
In April 2022, he opened his TikTok account, which now has more than 700,000 followers.
In his videos, he discusses the “saucy” scenes in TV series (among his favorites are “Bridgerton”, “Sex Education” and “The House of the Dragon”), explains how these scenes are filmed and answers frequently asked questions about his work. , as:
"What do you do if an actor has a boner?"
or "If two actors are in an off-screen relationship, do they have to follow the same protocols?"
She doesn't just demystify her work, but also invites people to engage in broader conversations about privacy
and consent.
The role of intimacy coordinator can be a difficult balance between choreography and attentiveness, and Steinrock brings to the job an academic foundation of
feminist theory
and performance, along with an innate flair for people.
“He's very patient,” said Karyn Kusama, director and executive producer of the Showtime drama “Yellowjackets,” who worked with Steinrock on the series' pilot.
“It's good to listen.
He looks for the actor to take the initiative as to... what he will do so that he feels more cared for”.
The “Yellowjackets” pilot includes several intimate scenes, including one in which two high school students, played by Sophie Nélisse and Jack Depew, have sex in a car and another in which a housewife, played by Melanie Lynskey , masturbates.
Resource
Having Steinrock in the studio for those scenes was vital, Kusama noted.
As a director, Kusama says that she has always felt a deep empathy for the vulnerability of the actors in such scenes and makes sure to ensure they feel comfortable.
But even if you ask an actor how they feel, it can be hard for them to feel confident in answering honestly knowing how much is at stake.
A privacy coordinator, as a neutral figure, is more likely to get an
honest response.
"Socially, it's very difficult to talk about sex," Steinrock said.
The role of the coordinator is to "create more lines of communication," he added, so that stakeholders feel safe talking about any issue that may come up, big or small.
“Privacy coordinators are not a panacea for an industry that has historically abused its actors and, frankly, most of the people who work in it,” Steinrock said.
"But integrating them into productions is a clear step that institutions can take, as part of a broader commitment to safety and equity."
For Steinrock, that commitment also includes working on diversifying privacy coordinators.
Although it is a rare discipline led by women in a male-dominated industry, it remains predominantly white and heterosexual, one of the pitfalls of a young profession that has relied heavily on word of mouth to grow.
Ultimately, the hope is that coordinating intimacy becomes a norm throughout the entertainment industry and "helps us see each other and the role of sex in our lives differently, as something more." deep and full of possibilities,” concluded Kusama.
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