Intimacy coordinators vote to unionize under SAG-AFTRA

LOS ANGELES – Erin Tillman’s work as a certified sex educator involves breaking taboos and addressing sensitive topics. By leading workshops and classes, Tillman knows the importance of her work and its impact on people’s lives, especially when it comes to relationships and personal identity.

“It’s very important,” Tillman said. “It affects every human being’s life at some point, whether it’s, you know, figuring out identity issues or, you know, just who you’d like to date or associate with.”

Tillman is also an intimacy coordinator, a role she cares deeply about. On Hollywood sets, she steps in to choreograph intimate scenes, ensuring actors’ boundaries are respected and helping directors bring their vision to life.

“We go in when there is an intimate scene, a hyper-exposed scene, nudity, simulated sexual scenes,” he said. “We come to help with the choreography. We help make sure that the actors respect each other’s limits, that the director is clear about the actor’s limits.”

Tillman and other privacy coordinators joined together to push for union representation to ensure essential protections and support.

“We need additional support to support our artists,” Tillman said.

In October, SAG-AFTRA filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent intimacy coordinators. In November, SAG-AFTRA announced that intimacy coordinators had voted unanimously to join the union, paving the way for them to negotiate their first contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP for short.

Intimacy coordinators say joining the union would mean standardized protections, fair pay and guidelines for addressing problems on set.

“Having the support of a union with standards that are set for all of us across the board, and there’s like a meeting of the minds in terms of what we’re doing there, what our job is, what we’re going to be. paid, what to do if there is a problem…having that in place is everything,” Tillman said.

For married actors Carolina Espiro and Matthew Jaeger, intimacy coordinators are essential. They know the pressures of working on set, where every moment costs money and actors are expected to get it right on the first or second take.

For Jaeger, that pressure has sometimes led to awkward situations on set. He recalled a case in which a producer used a private camera. Espiro said he took a step back from certain roles because he couldn’t always trust the process.

“Basically, you had to cross your fingers and trust that this producer or this director or this set would be safe in all the other people,” he said. “And finally I said, ‘No,’ because I couldn’t trust that.”

For both, intimacy coordinators create a safer space for actors, allowing them to focus on their work without fear or discomfort.

“Having that third party, that third party who is there to help the director discover his vision, but also to protect the artists, allows the artists to really relax and give the best performance possible,” Jaeger said.

For Tillman, the value of his work shines in the moments of gratitude from the actors.

“One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever gotten on a show is the performers saying, ‘Erin, this was so much fun,’” she said. “I want my job to be for the actor to come away feeling like they did a great job and that they were able to do it because they felt supported.”