The Union of Artists is calling for more privacy coordination on set

Still evolving, the profession of intimacy coordinator, at the moment primarily done by women, consists in ensuring that intimate scenes are shot with respect for actors and actresses.

It also aims to avoid possible slipperiness or discomfort, and make these scenes more convincing.

L ‘UDA It wants to be mandatory to use intimacy coordination on set in some particular situations.

We want to protect our artists, because they are the ones who have to play intimate or nude scenes, explains Sophie Prégent, the president ofUDA. Not all of us live the same way in our intimacy.

He compares coordinators or intimacy coordinators to people who oversee stunts on sets and whose presence is contractually obligatory, if necessary, to avoid injuries.

There can also be risks during intimate scenes: harassment, intimidation, psychological damage that stays with some people afterwards.

There are traumatic scenes, Sophie Prégent added. And, twenty years later, we still think about it.

Coordination of intimacy in search of professionalization

So far, theUDA and theAQPMwho therefore represents film and television producers, agrees with the need to professionalize this new profession, ensuring that the people who use it are qualified and certified.

No Mr. and Mrs. Everybody can improvise an intimacy coordinator, Sophie Prégent underlined. You need cinema experience and good background in psychology.

For example, Roxane Néron, who was one of the people who coordinated intimacy in Quebec, is an assistant director and has a bachelor’s degree in sexology.

We also need to equip productions that work with intimacy coordinators, because we don’t yet understand the benefits of intimacy coordination and we still see ourselves as a police force, albeit less so.explanation of one who says he does not consider himself nor like a coachor as a watchdog.

Roxane Nérona worked notably on the film Naomi said yeswhich is still a show in Quebec and includes several scenes of prostitution.

Intimacy coordination is a basic service to be offered, and mandatory for some specific scenes I think, but it is on a case -by -case basis.believes Geneviève Albert, the director of Naomi said yes.

It is a profession that has yet to be defined and a role that needs to be adapted to every project, director or director and actor or actress.

It should also be noted that actors and actresses refuse intimacy coordination because they think it makes filmmaking more difficult.

Training under development in Quebec

No practice currently exists in Quebec, but theUDA is currently working with the National Institute of Image and Sound (INIS) to develop training in French, based on training currently offered in the United States. This program will soon be offered byINISwhich is a professional training center for the audiovisual sector.

If we train people, but there are no jobs for people to pay training costs, I don’t know if that’s a good thing.shadow of Roxane Néron.

The young woman also highlighted the importance of experience in the audiovisual sector. Since you’ve been training for six months, are you ready to see yourself on a big film set and manage an intimate scene that will play into weakness, when you haven’t yet reached the plateau?he asked himself.

Disagreements between UDA and AQPM

If theUDA and theAQPM agreed on the need for adequate training, they have not yet agreed on the type of scenes in which the mandatory use of intimacy coordination will be included in the contracts signed between the artists and the production.

L ‘UDA requires the systematic presence of an intimacy coordinator when an actor or actress performing an intimate scene is under 20 years old and once a director, director, actor or actress has requested it even if the rest of the cast is included in the intimate scene you don’t feel the need to.

You need to protect young people from themselves, because at that age, when you enter this environment that can be galvanizing, you can be ready for anything, want to amuse and say yes to everything.said Roxane Néron.

An intimacy coordinator will also be able to guide young actresses and actors and help them differentiate themselves from their character, if they need to play intimate things they have never experienced in their personal lives.

For its part, theAQPMwith 160 members, wants to focus more on scenes that require intimacy coordination. Currently, we still have differences in visionUDAbecause the meaning of an intimate scene is immense and beyond nuditysaid Geneviève Leduc, Director of Labor Relations and Legal Relations.

We fix scenes of intimacy or nudity that include simulations of physical or psychological violence, or when a scene of nudity or intimacy involves several performers, he added. But should there always be an intimacy coordinator when two performers kiss?

Negotiations betweenUDA and theAQPM will continue at the end of the summer and will continue this fall to find a compromise.

This text is notably written frominterviews conducted by Catherine Richercultural columnist on the show 15-18. Comments may have been edited for clarity or brevity.