intimact

Intimacy Coordination

Professionals specialising in the filming of intimate scenes and the representation of sexuality in fiction.

Madrid / Barcelona / Bilbao / Lisboa

intimact

We want intimacy to have its rightful place in our fiction.

What we do

Communication security,
confidence expressiveness.

We get actively involved with the creative and technical team to take advantage of the narrative opportunities of intimate scenes.

Services

This is what we do

how we do it

We prioritise the human in order to be able to jump to fiction

We offer an open and honest channel of communication to avoid misunderstandings.

Methodology

This is how we do it

who we are

We believe in an authentic expression of intimacy, free of stereotypes and prejudices

Find out more

about us

Productions we have worked on

Experiencia en más de 40 producciones nacionales e internacionales

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue

Romería, de Carla Simón

Harta, Julia de Paz

Todos Los Lados de la Cama

Miss Carbón, Agustina Macri

Sigue Mi Voz

Dime Tu Nombre

Nina, de Andrea Jaurrieta

Legado

Satisfaction, Alex Burunova

All

the projects

Why include intimacy coordination in your next project

Ensure a good working environment

Intimate scenes can often put performers -and crew- in a very vulnerable position. In addition, discussing these scenes and the levels of consent of the actors can sometimes be complicated and lead to misunderstandings.

Make your story grow

Starting from the protection of the performers, we elevate the directors' vision by collaborating with them in the choreography and creative vision of these scenes, achieving a more narrative, authentic and original representation of intimacy.

Achieve realistic results

Just as with action scenes, we take care to achieve very realistic results without anyone taking a real punch.

Don't worry

We will take care from preproduction of the management of all the needs derived from the the intimate scenes in order to achieve an agile and satisfactory filming.

They have already relied on Intimact

I have already shot four series as DOP and operator with IntimAct and I think their work is vital. From the beginning, it is much clearer what is going to be shot and in what way. And during the shooting, the cast feels much more supported in these types of scenes, which are not usually easy.
Andalu Vila San JuanDOP
With the IntimAct team, the difficult becomes easy and safe. A calm and creative working space is created for artists, characters and the entire film crew. They are a safety net.
Laura GalánActress
Tábata, Lucía and their team are home. Accomplices protecting the most delicate things, they generate the ideal safe space allowing the best version of the work. Knowing the film industry inside and outside the set broadens their perspectives to tackle any scene.
Miki EsparbéActor
Despite the absolute trust I have with the actresses, it's still a delicate and uncomfortable subject. At the end of the day I am the director and I have a position of power, and by working with intimacy coordination everything flowed in a much more positive manner
Daniel Sánchez ArévaloDirector
This new figure is very important, it is there, present and responsible for our comfort, but also to bring a sense of reality to intimate scenes and intimate choreography.
André LamogliaActor
The work of Lucia and Tábata is wonderful. A department that needed to exist to coordinate a type of scene that has always been complex and tricky to direct. They make it easy and are not only dedicated to facilitating communication between actors but their passion for what they do adds up, just as any director expects from a head of department. They love what they do and it shows and is appreciated.
David VictoriDirector
It's not only about sex scenes, but also scenes where you are a bit more exposed, it deals with how you feel, with the parts of your body that you don't want to show. You feel very safe, supported, unexposed. You lose the nervousness.
Carmen ArrufatActress
IntimAct achieves the perfect intermediation so that, in intimate scenes, both actors and technical team work with the naturalness that these shootings require. The final result is always improved.
Angi MSI1st A.D

«The fact that they are actresses undoubtedly adds up. And so they recognise the power of this symbiosis between their professions. The privilege of being behind the camera and understanding the workings of filming, of the long pauses and all the workings of filming, is something that both Cerezo and Delgado do not overlook».

«The team manages to develop scenes that look real without the actors even touching each other. The body movements are calculated so that no one is caught in an unpleasant situation».

His colleagues are very grateful for the incorporation of this figure in the filming, but also the directors, because often these scenes are hardly talked about out of modesty.

Common doubts

Intimate scenes can often put performers in a very vulnerable position. In addition, discussing these scenes and the levels of consent of the actors can sometimes be complicated and lead to misunderstandings.

When shooting action scenes in the audiovisual industry, professionals are always on hand to help with the choreographic design and to manage the logistics and technical details of the scenes. They guarantee the protection of the actors and ensure that the quality of the content is as desired, with the possibility of creating very realistic results without anyone taking a real punch.

Until now, however, intimate scenes often lacked the space and time necessary to discuss, rehearse and shoot these scenes, and the responsibility for them usually fell on the actors. This meant that on many occasions situations occurred on set that were very uncomfortable for many artists (not to mention violence such as that suffered by María Schneider in The Last Tango in Paris). Other times, this emptiness was also felt on screen, resulting in unrealistic scenes or repeatedly falling into the same commonplaces and stereotypes when it came to representing sexuality.

Thus, following the same logic as action coordinators, intimacy coordinators are professionals specialised in the filming of intimate scenes and the representation of sexuality in fiction who, starting from the protection of the performers, elevate the directors' vision by collaborating with them in the choreography and creative vision of these scenes, achieving a more authentic and inclusive representation of intimacy.

Intimacy coordinators should be hired during the pre-production of audiovisual projects as the pre-production work of the role (conversations, rehearsals, design of intimate scenes, preparation of material, risk assessments...) is highly/extremely important for them to be able to carry out their functions in an optimal way. This will make it possible for all the work to be done on the day of filming and will speed up the filming time and improve the atmosphere on set.

It is recommended that intimacy coordination be hired when there are scenes of the following types in the script:

  • Scene in which there is physical interaction of an intimate nature between two or more performers, whether sexual in nature (kissing, simulated sex, BDSM...) or not, e.g. a gynaecological consultation.
  • Scenes involving nudity or semi-nudity of the performers (regardless of whether the context is sexual or not).
  • Intimate interaction of a performer with himself (masturbation, striptease, a mother breastfeeding, scenes of a scatological nature...).
  • Scenes containing explicit or implicit sexual violence.
  • Other scenes involving particular exposure of the performer, e.g. the depiction of childbirth or abortion, or dialogue that has a high sexual content even if it does not involve physicality.
  • When minors are involved in intimate scenes or scenes involving close physical contact with adults even if the content is not of a sexual nature, e.g. a parent bathing a child.
  • Other scenes with perhaps a lower level of intimacy, but involving minors or very young actors, or with non-professional actors to carry them out.


In all these cases it is highly recommended to have intimacy coordination, both for the peace of mind and comfort of the production, as well as for the safety and confidence of the actors in the process. 

We understand the consent expressed by the artists as valid provided that:

  • Be given freely, without coercion or threat.
  • Is given after the artist has been informed of the details relating to the shooting of the scene.
  • It has been expressed in a specific way for each intimate scene required, taking into account the particularities of each one.
  • It has been expressed in a responsible manner, with confidence and conviction on their part.
  • There is a possibility that they may withdraw* their consent if for some circumstance they need to do so to safeguard their emotional, physical or psychological well-being, provided that the scene has not yet been filmed. In this case, the production may have the possibility to make use of body doubles or digital technology to maintain what was previously agreed with the artist. The intimacy coordinator would help to find creative solutions so that the narrative vision of the scene is not compromised. 

*In our experience, it is very rare that artists decide to withdraw their consent, because if they have been properly informed and have felt that there is a security framework that protects the filming of these scenes, they tend to face them with a lot of confidence, security and greater creative freedom. But, of course, we at intimacy coordination advocate that this possibility be respected.
It should be taken into account that the work of intimacy coordinators is highly sensitive and delicate as they are heads of department who take on a great deal of responsibility. For this reason, training in intimacy coordination is very rigorous and follows international standards in order to be able to carry out the complexity of the role satisfactorily. If you would like to know more, do not hesitate to write to us.

To date, certified training is only available in the UK, USA, Canada and South Africa.
In our experience, if the actors have been properly informed of the requirements of the script during the casting and recruitment phase and we have been involved during the pre-production phase, the result is that the intimate content of the fictions is enhanced on an expressive and narrative level.

Being able to talk openly about the scenes, the artists being provided with a safe framework, the physical and psychological protection, the intimacy rehearsals, ..... They make actors much more relaxed and confident about filming intimate scenes, feeling much more confident about the intimate content and therefore achieving much more realistic and interesting on-screen results. The examples of well-known series where there has been intimacy coordination speak for themselves: I May Destroy You, The Deuce, Sex Education, Euphoria, Normal People…

We work with each director in a different way, adapting to their methodology and needs, but of course, our contribution always takes place hand in hand with them and with the intention of enhancing their vision of the scenes, collaborating with them in the choreography of the scenes, making the cast feel comfortable, ensuring that the desired realism is achieved and taking care of the logistics necessary for the shooting to take place as smoothly as possible.
There is nothing that generates more insecurity for actors than not knowing what they have to do or what limits they can cross when shooting intimate scenes. Being in that place of insecurity often causes anxiety and nervousness, lack of concentration, forgetting the narrative sense of the scene... and the results often lack detail, unwanted situations or misunderstandings.

From intimacy coordination we help, together with the directors, to dynamise the intimate interaction between the partners on stage, providing a space in which the joint playing field and the limits of the physical interaction that will take place are agreed upon. Within these limits, we help to generate a creative exchange that is always linked to the narrative sense of the scene: what each character wants at each moment in the story, who is taking the initiative, what rhythms help the most, what turning points or changes taken place within the scene, what sound expressiveness is needed... Finding together the path that the scene will take, ensuring that when the actors face the shooting of the scene, they do so in a calm and secure way, that allows them to concentrate on the fiction. The results, in this way, usually allow much more detail and expressiveness, and also a more specific visual planning of the scene.