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Intimacy on Set

METRO: The Girl Before star Jessica Plummer praises show’s ‘brilliant’ intimacy coordinator: ‘I felt extremely safe’

19/12/2021

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The Girl Before star Jessica Plummer gave insight into how the cast worked closely under the eye of intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien and explained the ’safe’ practices she brought to set.

The BBC drama tells the story of Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who becomes the tenant of a super minimalist property, designed by mysterious architect Edward (David Oyelowo). 

There’s one catch; she must live by his very specific set of rules and has limits on what and who she can bring into her life, and her new home.

But she soon ends up making some shocking discoveries about the titular ‘girl before’ Emma (Jessica Plummer), who met a grisly end three years previously.

Amid coming to grips with the initial plotline, the series also made for some more difficult scenes for the cast during production, with some very intimate moments to film.

Speaking to press including Metro.co.uk ahead of the show’s release, the former EastEnders actress praised intimacy coach Ita for her work on-set. 

‘Ita O’Brien is such a brilliant intimacy coordinator,’ Jessica begun, as she went on to detail the process of the scenes. 

‘We met, we did rehearsals, we spoke in advance about things that we were comfortable with and we did warm ups.

‘Every time we gave consent, before we did anything.’

The job of an intimacy coordinator is to guide actors through scenes which involve sex or nudity, to make sure they feel safe, protected and have given proper consent.

Jessica gave further insight into how the cast worked through these sorts of scenes.

‘Our approach was kind of just seeing it as like a dance that we gave it beats.

‘There was there was a structure that was like a routine, So we knew it was just very choreographed,’ she added. 

The actress commended Ita for making her feel ‘extremely safe’ throughout the process.

‘Just knowing that before we had filmed it, that was set in place, it made the scene as easy to film as any other,’ she concluded. 

Ita is known for her work as an intimacy coordinator and has been involved with some of the biggest shows of the last few years.

Most notably, she assisted the cast of Normal People in the heart-wrenching series based on Sally Rooney’s novel of the same name.

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Palatinate: The revival of intimacy on-screen: the place of intimacy coordinators in film and TV

19/12/2021

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Intimacy on screen is not a new phenomenon, but in recent years its place in the film industry has been rediscovered. The emergence of intimacy coordinators can be credited for this revolution, changing approaches to sex scenes both artistically and pragmatically. 

Male dominance in the film industry has historically moulded sexual depictions of women in objectified and degrading ways. It has also perpetuated these attitudes on set. Maria Schneider’s experience, in which she was purposely excluded from the decision to substitute butter for lubricant in her scripted rape scene, demonstrated indifference to boundaries in the workplace. In fact, the intention for director Bernardo Bertolucci was to inspire a genuine emotion of humiliation in Schneider, treating her as a prop on set. The negative psychological impact on Schneider demonstrated the need for safeguarding measures protecting women in the film industry.

Following the viral #MeToo movement in 2017, concerns around sexual assault and manipulative behaviour in the industry were pushed to the forefront. The exposure of Harvey Weinstein unmasked a world of abuse behind the glamorised Hollywood name. 

In the same year, intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien introduced her ‘Intimacy on Set Guidelines’, inspiring a momentous shift in the treatment towards sex on set. New rules were implemented to ensure actors’ consent and set boundaries for their comfort. This shift also impacted the representation of sex on screen. Rather than constituting an entertaining and commodified addition to film and TV, sex scenes were revolutionised as realistic, vulnerable and emotive portrayals of human experience. 

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WhatsonStage: Spring Awakening review – a piercing beam of light at the Almeida

19/12/2021

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The weight of the show falls on the shoulders of the three leads: clever Melchior, whose high-minded dreams of a better future are nearly crushed by the consequences of his affair with the naïve but lovely Wendla; and well-meaning Moritz, who is destroyed by the weight of expectations placed upon him. All are utterly superb.

As Melchior, Laurie Kynaston (familiar from The Son and The Ferryman) has a tentative openness, and a firm belief in his own knowledge that make his descent almost unbearable to watch. Amara Okereke as Wendla matches him in tenderness and magnanimous trust; the scene where they make love (staged with the help of intimacy director, Ita O'Brien) has a touching clumsiness that makes it all the more affecting. Her singing is so pure and radiant, it seems to come directly from her heart. The last of the central trio, Stuart Thompson, is simply heart-breaking and there are fine performances too from Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea as one of life's survivors and Carly-Sophia Davies as one of the world's lost souls. It is a triumphant achievement and I wish it a long run and full houses.

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Variety: Leading Intimacy Coordinator Ita O’Brien Discusses Job Challenges, Reveals Assault By a Director

13/12/2021

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By K.J. Yossman

​Leading intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien, who has worked on projects including “I May Destroy You” and “Normal People,” among others, has revealed she was once assaulted by a director while working on set.

O’Brien, who started her career as a dancer and movement director, was discussing the challenges of her work — including the resistance she sometimes encounters from creatives and crew — during producers’ conference Focus London.

In the beginning of her move into intimacy coordination, which was around 2015, O’Brien said productions invited her in “because they knew they really wanted” her experience and input. However, that was followed by a “middle period,” just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in early 2020, when she was often met with resistance on set.

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Intimacy on Set Ltd
Reg. in England & Wales No.11289710