Intimacy coordinators discuss the importance of their joining the union.
Intimacy coordinators are an essential part of creating safe and professional working environments on set, acting as advocates and liaisons between actors and production for scenes involving nudity, simulated sex and other intimate acts. Last month, intimacy coordinators unanimously agreed to join SAG-AFTRA in a National Labor Relations Board vote. To discuss why this matters and what it means for the future of the profession and the entertainment industry at large, we’re joined by intimacy coordinators Claire Warden and Erin Tillman, who were instrumental in the recent vote to unionize
It’s important for intimacy coordinators to come in and make things feel [natural]. I’ve had a range of experiences on various sets, and the best-case scenario is I go in and the production, crew, director and actors already know [my role]. But it is a little harder for us to walk on sets where people don’t really know what our role is. … SAG-AFTRA is going to be helpful for us in that way: When things end up being harder, we’re not going in by ourselves.
Claire Warden
Intimacy Coordinator
Intimacy coordinators are an essential part of creating safe and professional environments on set through their work as advocates and liaisons between actors and production for scenes involving nudity, simulated sex and other intimate acts. SAG-AFTRA has been a longtime proponent for intimacy coordinators and has included provisions for them in its 2023 TV/Theatrical Agreements. On Nov. 12, this support resulted in a historic, unanimous vote with the National Labor Relations Board for intimacy coordinators to be recognized as a member category within the union.
To discuss the importance of the decision and its implications for the future of the profession and the entertainment industry at large, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is joined by SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee members Claire Warden and Erin Tillman, two certified intimacy coordinators who were instrumental in the recent vote to unionize. In addition to giving insight into a day in the professional work of intimacy coordinators, Warden and Tillman discuss their efforts with SAG-AFTRA to organize and the next steps in the process.
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The views expressed by the guests are their own and not that of SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply SAG-AFTRA’s endorsement.
Photo: SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and intimacy coordinators Erin Tillman and Clair Warden.
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