An Important Announcement About Intimacy Coordinator Standards & Protocols

Today we announced a new step our union is taking toward ensuring the safety and dignity of our members on set. The Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators is a landmark document that will help ensure our members who are filming scenes with nudity or simulated sex are able to work in a manner that suits their creativity while maintaining their personal and professional dignity.

This document was developed in collaboration with SAG-AFTRA member leaders and a community of experienced intimacy coordinators, including representatives from Intimacy Directors International and Intimacy Professionals Association.  For those who haven’t yet worked with one, intimacy coordinators are professionals who help performers and productions navigate the highly sensitive scenes that feature nudity and simulated sex. They play a unique role by advocating for performers’ safety during hyper-exposed work and ensuring that a production’s creative needs are met.

Now, SAG-AFTRA has taken a huge step toward normalizing and encouraging the use of these professionals in productions large and small. This is an opportunity to truly change the culture while helping to ensure the safety and security of our members while they work. It’s the latest development in our ongoing effort to eliminate sexual harassment in the entertainment industry through strategic partnerships, raising awareness and expanding contract and legislative protections.

As part of this effort, the union established the Four Pillars of Change initiative and issued its Code of Conduct and Guideline No. 1 to uphold professional standards and address the potentially toxic culture and power imbalances that contribute to workplace harassment.

We encourage you to review the Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators and spread the word about this great new resource with your colleagues. 

If you have any questions about the new Standards and Protocols, please email intimacy@sagaftra.org or call (323) 549-6645.

Strength in unity,

Gabrielle Carteris
SAG-AFTRA President

David White
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director