November 5, 2025 • 28 mins
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The most unforgettable moments on screen often ask the most from performers. Ashley Landrieu—actor, writer, director, stunt-trained performer, and intimacy coordinator—pulls back the curtain on how intimate and emotionally heavy scenes are designed with consent, clarity, and safety from day one. We walk through what the role actually covers, from simulated sex and nudity to panic attacks and high-stakes emotion, and why “film isn’t real but looks it” is the guiding principle that protects people while elevating the story.
https://www.ashleylandrieu.com/
Voiced by Brian Plaideau
Have you been injured? New Orleans based actor, Jana McCaffery, has been practicing law in Louisiana since 1999, specializing in personal injury since 2008. She takes helping others very seriously. If you have been injured, Jana is offering a free consultation AND a reduced fee for fellow members of the Lousiana film industry, and she will handle your case from start to finish. She can be reached at janamccaffery@gmail.com or 504-837-1234. Tell Her NOLA Film Scene sent you
Follow us on IG @nolafilmscene, @kodaksbykojack, and @tjsebastianofficial. Check out our 48 Hour Film Project short film Waiting for Gateaux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5pFvn4cd1U . & check out our website: nolafilmscene.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Hey y'all, my name is Ashley Landrieux.
I am an actress.
I'm an intimacy coordinator.
I'm a writer.
I've directed.
I've trained in stunts.
And I am ecstatic to be on theNOLA film scene.
SPEAKER_03 (00:24):
Ashley, wow, it's great to have you on.
We really appreciate it.
So we've got a pretty good bitto unpack with your skill set
and things that you do.
You and I have taken quite a fewclasses together with James
Damont, and we have been tied tosome of the same projects in
your intimacy coordinator role,just not necessarily on set at
(00:47):
the same time.
So I think that's pretty cool.
The stunt coordinator, intimacycoordinator, that stuff is
really, really fascinating.
So we'll we'll dig into some ofthose things and get your take
on them.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01):
I can't wait to hear about it.
But also, hi, welcome to theshow.
Let me get a word in edgewise,TJ.
I know.
How's that for a change?
How about it, Brian?
It's weird for me not to be ableto talk.
SPEAKER_03 (01:16):
I'm like, he he stutter starts a couple times.
So let's cover intimacycoordinator first.
What is an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
An intimacy coordinator is uh a newer
position, newer onset who uh isin charge of coordinating
intimate scenes.
Intimacy is a huge range.
It could be what your mind goesto, which is two people in a sex
(01:48):
scene, or it could be somethingwith someone just dealing with
their emotions.
What if someone has to have apanic attack in this in the
scene?
You don't just film it once, youfilm it multiple times and you
have multiple tastes.
And if that scene is verydraining for a person or
traumatic for a person, theyhave to be able to come out of
(02:09):
that in a clear mind.
The goal is for everyone to gohome mentally and physically
safe.
It is a job at the end of theday.
You should be able to lead ithere on the set.
If someone can come on and say,Look, they're done, they've done
this enough times, it doesn'tneed to be done anymore.
(02:30):
That can help the actor.
Also, if the performer feelsmore comfortable in that
intimate scene, they can performbetter and they can tell the
story even better than what theythought they could.
And it really brings out theemotion, it brings out the
story.
So it's about making people feelcomfortable in uncomfortable
scenes.
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
That that makes a lot of sense.
Recently I did a play and I hada very, very emotional
monologue.
And after I would finish mymonologue, I would go backstage
and just break down and boo-hoolike a baby because all of the
rest of the emotion dumped atthat moment.
(03:11):
And the some of the peoplestanding around were like, uh we
don't know what to do.
And they just kind of stoodthere.
My and I only was performingonce a night, so it wasn't like
I had to do it multiple timeslike you would filming.
But my wife was backstage andshe would just walk over and put
her hand on my shoulder, and itkind of made it better, you
(03:33):
know.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
Yeah, and you know, I'll say this about live
theater.
Intimacy coordinators are forfilm, and intimacy directors are
for live theater.
Um, I've worked with TennesseeWilliams Play Company.
But you feeling that emotionallyconnected to the monologue is
great.
(03:55):
That's awesome.
But that doesn't mean that youshould be able to like you
shouldn't have to take thoseemotions home with you.
And crying about it because youfelt that strongly about it is
beautiful.
But how do you how do you say,okay, cal like calm yourself
down?
That's enough.
It's a separate thing.
That was this character, this isme.
SPEAKER_03 (04:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
So kudos to you.
Great job on the if it made youmove, you moved to someone else.
SPEAKER_03 (04:20):
Thank you.
So when is an intimacycoordinator mandatory versus
when it might only berecommended?
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Mandatory is for any sex scenes or nudity.
If a character or if an actor isgonna be nude, there has to be
an intimacy coordinator.
If there is going to besimulated sex, there's gotta be
an intimacy coordinator.
And the word of the day issimulated.
It is all simulated.
(04:52):
It is not real.
I have to remind people thatfilm is not real.
We give people a script thatsays exactly what they're gonna
say.
There's a director who's gonnatell them what they're gonna do.
There's a camera that's gonnamake the audience see what they
want them to see.
So, same thing with intimatescenes, it's not real.
(05:14):
So we have to leave it there,and we're not doing anything for
real.
Which there have been filmswhere people had to stimulate
manual simulation on themselves,and that's really uncomfortable.
You shouldn't have to do that.
You are at a job and you shouldbe comfortable at your job.
And I say this to people,especially to the lawyers in my
(05:36):
family, I know a lot of lawyersin the United States of America,
and I'll speak for the UnitedStates only.
You are entitled to aharassment-free workplace.
If I came to your work and Itold you, if I was your boss and
I said, Hey, I'm gonna have youand your coworker do these
intimate acts together, and I'mgonna record it and I'm gonna
(05:57):
get it from this angle, and I'mgonna tell you to stop, and then
I'm gonna get it from thisangle, you would look at me like
I had 10 heads.
So why don't we treat actors thesame way?
We're telling a story, but thatdoesn't mean that they need to
be thrown in and just expectedto do whatever we tell them to
do.
They are human beings, they arenot chess pieces.
So they have their say inboundaries, they they have their
(06:22):
say in what they want seen.
If they don't want a scar seen,they don't have to have it seen
on the camera.
That is their body, it is theirchoice, what is shown.
Because it also lives forever.
As we know, once you putsomething on the internet, once
you put something on TV, it'sthere.
There is no taking it down.
SPEAKER_03 (06:41):
Yeah.
So you mentioned a sex scene ora simulated sex scene.
If you have a male and a femaleon the scene, do you have only
one intimacy coordinator that ishelping both actors, or is there
one for each actor?
Or how does that work?
SPEAKER_00 (06:57):
Normally it's one person.
There's one intimacy coordinatorfor the film, typically, uh,
especially if it's just a scenebetween two individuals.
Now, there are group scenes thatintimacy coordinators had to
work together.
Sometimes they'll ask for anassistant.
I know someone I have not workedon a group scene.
It is on my bucket list.
(07:17):
I really want to, but I went toa conference and the person who
was speaking coordinated a scenewith 50 people in it.
50 people doing simulated sex.
Crazy.
I'm like, how did you do that?
And she showed us her picturesthat she drew, and it looked
like it looked like footballplays.
She had like X's and O's, like,this is one couple, this is
(07:39):
someone else, this is anothergroup.
It was just like X's and O's,and just little stick figure
drawings of what she could comeup with her head.
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
That's very cool.
And what men might not thinkabout that it helps us too.
And what I mean is I did aclass, so it wasn't even a
simulated sex.
I was just the creepy boss.
And usually in our audition typeclasses, it's like this.
We're just facing the camera andwe're not interacting with the
person.
And that's how this class hadbeen.
Well, when we showed up, they'relike, Oh, you're gonna do your
own blocking, it's gonna be likea scene.
(08:07):
It's like, okay.
And as I'm looking at it, therewas a scene.
If I step in and got rightbehind her, put my hand on her
shoulder, and drop my voice.
And you're gonna do this now.
You know what I mean?
I thought that was a would helpthe scene, but I didn't know, I
I didn't want to just go boom inthe scene.
But we couldn't really talkduring the class.
So I just, are you okay with me?
I don't want to hear what you'redoing.
I said, just no, I'm nottouching anything vital, but I'm
(08:29):
gonna touch your shoulder.
She's like, fine.
So having that permission to letme relax and be in the character
to be as creepy as possible,because I don't want to be that
in real life, you know, correct.
SPEAKER_00 (08:37):
And talking about that consent with some people
don't want to be touched, theyjust don't.
And that's totally fine.
And people should be able to sayif they don't want to be
touched.
So, I mean, being able to asksomeone, hey, is it okay if I do
this?
Some people just want to gocomplete improv.
And if people are okay withthat, great.
(08:58):
That's awesome.
Of course, there are places thatwe aren't we know, or you should
know, that you're not gonnatouch someone.
But sometimes people have theydon't want to be touched in
places, and I'll use hair as anexample.
Some people feel like they canjust touch someone's hair, and
other people are like, why wouldyou touch someone's hair?
So to be able to say, Hey, is itokay if I touch you on the
(09:19):
shoulder?
But you would rather ask thannot ask, and then it come off as
weird, like, oh, he did that.
Like, no, that's not what it is.
We're in a scene.
Again, we're working, we'replaying, it's not real life.
So being able to ask for consentis huge.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
Like just an improv class, you never take your
clothes off in an improv scene.
But if I go, I'm gonna getnaked, I mime, yeah, and a mime
that I'm taking my clothes off.
Well, I did a scene, it was in aclass, and I may have assigned
it, I don't remember, but I wasthe owner of the strip club and
she was the stripper.
And so I was like, take yourclothes off.
She's like, Oh, and then shepulled an imaginary plant in
front of her and I pulled it.
(09:53):
No, no, you got to show it.
Well, I'm thinking we're allclothed and you know,
everything's fine, but that madeher very uncomfortable.
So even that is not fair to her,right?
You know, so if I had known thatbeforehand or realized it, I
didn't pick up on the cuesbecause of course the character
was nervous because I'm thesleazy.
I'm a lot of sleazy characters,I just realized I'm the sleazy
club owner.
So you have to be aware of thattoo.
(10:13):
And not like a not like ahandicap, not like your your
arms are being tied, like, oh, Igotta avoid the Me Too movement.
No, it's just so everybody canplay and everybody can work
together to make the storybetter while not getting into
something that's gonna hurt theperson or get laws, you know,
get me in jail.
SPEAKER_03 (10:29):
Yeah.
Right.
Our class talked about it.
We we all we stood in a circleand we all said what we're
comfortable touching or havingtouched.
And it worked out.
I mean, as far as I know, nobodywas made uncomfortable.
We were careful about it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
So I will say we do that when I'm working and I've
done this in theater and I'vedone this in film.
I will get the performerstogether.
If it's on stage, it's usuallyjust on stage right there.
But if it's a film, especially afilm that I worked on that was a
vertical film, and these wereintense scenes, I had them come
together in a separate room andsaid, look, we're gonna go over
(11:03):
boundaries.
And I had the actors face eachother.
And I said, I want you to gofrom the top of your head all
the way down to your toes andsay, what is okay to touch and
what is not okay.
And I went first.
I said, Top of my head is okayto touch.
You can touch my hair, you cantouch my forehead, my face is
okay, my lips are fine, my neckis okay, my upper chest is fine,
(11:25):
not my breast, my stomach isfine, my arms are fine, and went
all the way down to my toes ofwhat is okay and what's not
okay.
And then I'll have the otherperson do.
It's like, okay, we have bothjust communicated to each other
what is okay and what is not.
And if you actually, if I hadsaid that my arm, I don't want
my arm touched.
One, I don't have to give areason.
You don't need a reason.
(11:45):
You can just say I don't want myarm touched.
Fine by me.
It's if you accidentally touchedmy arm, just let's say, hey, I
don't want my arm touched.
Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot.
Forgive and move on.
Most of the time, people are nottrying to hurt one another.
SPEAKER_03 (11:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
It's an accident.
SPEAKER_03 (12:00):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
So it's important to say those boundaries.
So it's like, okay, we knowthis, but if an accident
happens, let's say I'm sorry,move on, and let's just keep
going.
SPEAKER_03 (12:09):
That's a really good approach.
With your certification, Iunderstand that it took quite a
while to go through all that,right?
Didn't it?
Didn't you work on that for awhile?
SPEAKER_00 (12:18):
Yes.
So I trained with intimacycoordinators and directors, IDC.
Uh, I did, it took me aboutthree years to do this.
It's a new program.
They are fixing some thingswithin it.
And originally you had to gothrough levels one, two, and
three, apply for in-persontraining, and then you would go,
but they only accepted 10 peopleat the time.
(12:38):
I got to the interview phase,didn't they get further.
They revamped their program, putmore things online, which was
most of the things that I hadalready done, which was nice,
and I got a refresher.
And then you could apply to dothe in-person training, and they
took significantly more people.
So I was, I went to Minnesotaand I was in a group of about 25
(12:58):
other intimacy coordinators fromaround the world.
I'm not exaggerating at all.
We had people from California,New York.
I'm the I was the only personfrom South.
We had friends from Greece,Italy, Turkey.
Our friend in Turkey is the veryfirst intimacy coordinator in
Turkey, which is really cool.
Uh, friends in England andIreland.
(13:22):
Our friend in Ireland was acostumer on Game of Thrones,
which is really cool.
So just so many people with somuch more experience than me.
I got to learn, I got to learn alot.
It was a lot of fun.
It was very tiring.
It was a very long week.
SPEAKER_03 (13:38):
Very cool.
Is it predominantly women thatare intimacy coordinators?
Are there men that do it aswell?
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
I have found that intimacy coordinators tend to be
more women or female presenting,but that doesn't mean that men
or male presenting can't beintimacy coordinators.
There are definitely there needsto be some.
Just like stunt coordinators,most stunt coordinators are men.
That doesn't mean that womencan't.
There should definitely be, thatdoesn't mean that women can't.
There should definitely be morewomen stunt coordinators or
(14:06):
female presenting stuntcoordinators.
Same thing with intimacy.
Everyone experiences intimacy.
So there should be intimacycoordinators of all different
shapes and sizes and genders andeverything.
SPEAKER_03 (14:17):
Yeah.
So what made you decide tobecome an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00 (14:21):
I was scrolling on TikTok when I saw this for the
first time.
And it's something that I wasalways curious about because I,
from watching so many films andmaking films with friends, it's
something that I wanted to knowhow to do.
Because, like stunts, you needsomeone who knows what they're
doing to be able to coordinatethat scene.
(14:41):
So I believed that most stuntcoordinators were in charge of
intimate scenes.
So I was really more curiousabout how they did it.
And I started going through whatit takes to become an intimacy
coordinator.
And I was just really interestedin the topic and making it look
real.
Because if you if you're in apeople who have been in a real
fist fight, it doesn't look thesame as doing a fist fight on
(15:06):
camera.
There are angles, there are,you're not actually hitting
someone.
That's a big thing.
You're not actually hittingsomeone when you're stunt
fighting.
Whereas if you're real fighting,you know, you're hitting
someone.
Same thing with film.
I know in real life, people areactually doing things, but on
film they can't.
So how are they doing that?
I just loved researching andwatching films and trying to
(15:27):
catch those moments that youcould see a barrier.
So I wanted to figure it out.
I wanted to figure out themagic.
SPEAKER_03 (15:34):
Should we be thinking about using an intimacy
coordinator for these lowbudget, you know, non-union
projects, or just do like Briansaid, and have the conversation
(16:23):
beforehand and make sure we knowwhat we're comfortable with?
SPEAKER_00 (16:26):
I would absolutely suggest if you have an intimate
scene, I would say have anintimacy coordinator.
Now, the problem is with lowbudget films, if they want, I'm
pretty sure, and I could bewrong on this, but low budget
SAG films or ultra low, I thinkit's against the contract to
(16:47):
have intimate scenes becausethey don't have a budget for an
intimacy coordinator.
Now, if there are more peoplewho are learning, maybe, or how
learning how to be an intimacycoordinator, maybe that would go
away.
But from what I understand,low-budget films aren't supposed
to because they can't pay for anintimacy coordinator and
(17:07):
guarantee that everyone's goingto be safe now.
If you're not gonna follow therules and you're trying to film
something, I would highly,highly, highly, highly, highly
suggest having an intimacycoordinator.
And from the beginning, in anyproject, if there's something
intimate, there should be anintimacy coordinator from the
beginning.
So they can look at the scripttoo and say, hey, you don't just
(17:30):
have one intimacy, you have abunch more that can all play a
part of the story and build yourstory.
But again, it's about the Ithink it's about the budget,
honestly.
You want to make sure thatintimacy coordinator can be
paid, but you want to make surethat people can be safe.
And what is the point of theintimacy within the film?
You know, I just I if anything,your question makes me have 20
(17:53):
more questions to ask about it.
And I would want to help just tomake sure that people are
filming and it's I want intimacycoordinators to become more in
the practice and not a secondthought.
I want that to be a firstthought for anyone.
So I'm happy to help people whoneed an intimacy coordinator,
even if they don't have a largebudget.
If you're gonna do it, which itsounds like people are gonna do
(18:16):
it, let's do it correctly.
Let's make sure people are safeand there is someone there who
can speak for them and theydon't feel like they're, oh, I'm
gonna make them upset if I don'tdo this, and then have them be
uncomfortable because then thatjust opens so many doors for
issues and potential trauma.
SPEAKER_03 (18:33):
Right.
And so does the intimacycoordinator have to be
officially certified like youare, or can it be somebody that
was going through training likeyou did for three years?
SPEAKER_00 (18:43):
Yes.
And I I did my training, thein-person training was was a
certificate intensive, and I amcertificate pending.
For me to get my finalcertificate, I need 10 days on
set as an intimacy coordinator.
So I have one thing booked inOctober, I'm looking for other
projects.
But see, that I think it I thinkit depends because there I know
(19:04):
intimacy coordinators who arenot stacked, but they were
grandfathered in orgrandmothered in, I should say,
because they worked for so longand did these types of scenes
that they already know how to doit.
There's not there's not adefinite book on how to do this.
I hope that answers yourquestion.
SPEAKER_03 (19:23):
It does.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, maybe maybe you need towrite the book on it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
Yeah, we need a lot of help with that.
Oh, there's so many things thatcould go in that book.
My lord.
SPEAKER_02 (19:34):
I know I know at least one more intimacy
coordinator who I could put youin contact with.
You know, Devin McNair.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
I know Devin.
I talked to her the other day,actually.
SPEAKER_02 (19:42):
She's so sweet.
I met her when I took mytheatrical combat class.
So they did a QA, they broughther in, and she talked about the
stunts.
She used to be a wrestler andintimacy coordination.
So hello, you already know her,I can't help you.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
But she's a very knowledgeable person about the
film world and stunts andintimacy.
So I hope I hope to work morewith her in the future.
That's just me.
SPEAKER_02 (20:02):
Me too, but I want to work with everybody except
for TJ.
I've had enough.
Not only talking about SAG lowbudgets, and then you have
non-union, which can be evenless, could be more.
They just don't want to dealwith the union.
But then there are things likewe do the 48-hour film, and we
do independent films for nomoney with our friends.
And I have an example of one, Iwon't say what it was.
I don't work with this personanymore, and I don't even think
(20:24):
they in our little circle of theindustry, but in that film, he
was the lead actor, and the leadactress was willing to do a sex
scene.
But it was supposed to be crude,but a room full of people, and
they met at a hotel and he wasthe only one there.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:37):
See, it's it's like crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (20:39):
That's terrible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:40):
Where it's like, yeah, hmm, that's that's why
they don't want non-union orsuper, super indie film that
you're just making with people,because I pray that it didn't go
any further than that.
I hope that that person is okay.
But that that is not the firsttime that I've heard that.
That's terrifying.
You again, it's a job.
(21:01):
You're signing up to do a job,and no one should be trying to
take advantage of you for doingthe job.
Oh gosh, yeah, that that'sterrifying.
SPEAKER_02 (21:11):
I've also heard kind of horror stories from being a
background person.
The ladies' different movieswould come to me, one of them is
my friend, and she had threedifferent guys.
One might have been a stalker,one was uh socially inept, so
didn't pick up on cues, and oneguy was just weird, maybe in
between.
And so she'd come and we'd talk,we're sitting in holding with a
chair, and and he had done thison other sets, the real bad one.
(21:31):
Even though she was married,he'd still talk to her, like,
hey, baby, you know.
So I'm playing with my phone,we're waiting, and she goes,
Here he comes.
And I go, What do you mean,darling?
Or something like that to saythis is my woman.
And he went, Oh, which is stillweird because she's already
married, you know.
And other ladies would beshooting a pool scene, not
swimming, playing pool.
So they're bent over, and therewere different guys who would
come up and bump them with theirhips.
(21:51):
So even in background, stupid, Ican't even stress the word
strong enough, evil shit washappening.
Yeah, you know, God forbid thedance scene when people are
rubbing up on each other.
Not only is the world now youhave to have consent, but just
what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (22:04):
Well, it's also just a reminder on film sets,
background people are not chesspieces.
You are human beings withfeelings and emotions, and
you're at a job.
No one should be making you feeluncomfortable.
If you do feel uncomfortable,tell that person.
If there is an intimacycoordinator, you can ask them.
Now, I will say an intimacycoordinator is not HR, but
(22:26):
there's not really HR on set.
So definitely try and talk tothat person and say that's not
okay.
Don't be silent about it.
Tell them if it happens again,tell someone else, talk to a PA,
talk to an AD.
If there is an intimacycoordinator, ask them.
An intimacy coordinator is notgonna mind trying to disrupt
harmful behavior because that isharmful behavior.
It makes the set uncomfortablefor people.
(22:48):
No one wants to beuncomfortable.
It's an uncomfortable feeling tobe uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Right.
I do know on that set anincident had happened the day
before the one I just describedwith a totally different person,
and they went to an AD and thatperson was thrown off the set
immediately.
Good.
SPEAKER_00 (23:00):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (23:01):
So there are protections in place, and we
just have to hope that,especially ladies, guys, it
would probably be different, butthere are instances of that will
have to stand up a little bitfor themselves or get someone to
help stand up with them.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Right, but also at the end of the day, no one
should have to stand up forthemselves.
SPEAKER_02 (23:17):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:18):
Why can't people be kind to their coworkers?
You are co-workers, that is whatyou are.
I mean, just be nice to peopleand respect each other.
It all comes down to respect.
Just because you see somethingthat you like doesn't mean you
have to touch it or them.
Yes, it's restraint.
We deal with it or restraint.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Yeah, nobody owes you anything.
And I know this is a work scene,but if a lady buys you dinner,
she doesn't owe you anything,guys, which should be just
common sense.
SPEAKER_00 (23:41):
But common sense ain't that common.
SPEAKER_02 (23:43):
If common sense were common, it would just be called
sense.
SPEAKER_00 (23:45):
Correct.
Correct.
You know, I will say there is alot of harmful behavior that can
be on set, but when you have ascene, and I I tend to find when
it's more of a serious subject,people tend to be more way more
respectful, which is great.
I worked on a film that's notout yet, but it was uh an
attempt sexual assault scene.
(24:06):
So there was a little bit ofstunts and a little bit of
intimacy.
I think you had this guy slammedthis girl on the table.
He brings his hand up her leg.
I mean, that's a hard scene tofilm.
And she's screaming, he'sscreaming back at her.
But these two actors werephenomenal.
They talked to each other.
I talked with them.
(24:27):
They were very comfortable.
They were very respectful.
And the scene, I started crying.
It was very moving.
It was great.
But sometimes those scenes canhave both in them.
And I tend when they do havefine, when they do have both in
them, the actors who areportraying those characters are
very, very, very respectful.
It's more of a comedy scenewhere people are like, oh, it's
a joke.
We're playing.
(24:47):
It's like, okay, we still haveto have the same amount of
respect, whether the scene isreally intense or supposed to be
really funny.
We still need that same amountof respect.
SPEAKER_02 (24:55):
Right, right.
Yeah.
And that really should bediscussed before you even sign a
contract, probably beforeaudition.
This will require nudity.
This is the what the role is.
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
Absolutely.
If you have an intimacycoordinator, you should have
them in the beginning of theprocess, in the beginning,
before casting.
And I say before casting becauseif you have a film and you say
it is important for this film,for this person to be topless in
this scene and for these peopleto do this intimate act.
That's fine.
Let's do it.
(25:23):
I am not the prude police.
Intimacy coordinators are notprude police.
We want to help you as much aspossible.
But we're not just going tospring that on people.
It's going to, it has to be inthe casting notice.
You have to be okay with this.
We need to cover those basesbefore, because you don't want
to come on set and then thatperson revoke their consent last
minute.
And then you're like, you eitherhave to completely change the
(25:44):
scene or you have to findanother actor.
Well, why are we even in thatsituation?
Let's get it right the firsttime.
Know who we're casting, makesure that they're okay with it.
Then we have contracts that arecalled writers, nudity writers
or sex writers that they sign,which has their boundaries, the
definitions, and basically whatthey're agreeing to and what the
scene is.
(26:04):
And then there are additionalrules to those contracts.
You, if you're in a scene andyou have signed a writer and
you've done the take a couple oftimes and you're like, I don't
want to do this anymore.
I'm done.
You are absolutely allowed tosay that and be done.
But you can't take back thefootage that has already been
filmed.
And then if they want to have abody double, that body double
(26:25):
who is replacing your body inthat scene gets the same exact
contract that you signed.
It is your body that is beingportrayed.
So it is your contract that theyhave to sign.
They don't get to do anythingextra in that scene.
If a person's chest was coveredand they're like, I didn't want
my chest seen, and they're like,oh, well, I'm okay with that.
Good for them.
That's wonderful.
But they're following that samecontract.
No if, ands, or buts.
(26:46):
And contracts are not just forthe actors.
I will say this.
It is also for the protection ofthe director and the producers.
If you sign a contract thatsays, for example, I don't want
my right arm seen, you sign thatcontract.
The production company signsthat contract.
You have an agreement that saysthat this arm will not be seen.
And the definition says from thetip of the elbow to the
(27:07):
fingertips.
That is the agreement.
If the production company goesagainst that contract and shows
this arm, you as the actor cansue the production company.
No one wants to be sued.
The contracts are to protect theperformers and the production
company, directors, and everyoneinvolved.
This is supposed to be a blanketcovering.
That's why you want to havesomeone in the beginning.
(27:29):
No one wants legal battles.
It's not fun.
It costs money.
Don't do that.
Get your ducks in the linebeforehand.
Get an intimacy coordinator ifyou think you need one.
Get everything you need.
Make sure the actors know whatthey're doing, what they're
being cast for, what the sceneis, so that they can make that
decision because that's theirdecision.
You can't make them do that.
So sorry.
SPEAKER_03 (27:49):
Makes sense.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Okay, Ashley, you've given us a lot to think about.
All good stuff, but it's a lot.
So let's end the episode here.
But we're going to come backwith a part two so we can talk
about all your stunt work andmaybe your acting and writing
too.
SPEAKER_03 (28:01):
Ashley, thanks for joining us.
This was a great conversation.
Very, very interesting stuff.
I can't wait to see you for parttwo to talk about being a stunt
player.
Thanks again.
We'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Thank you.
Come back for part two.
Hey y'all, my name is Ashley Landrieux.
I am an actress.
I'm an intimacy coordinator.
I'm a writer.
I've directed.
I've trained in stunts.
And I am ecstatic to be on theNOLA film scene.
SPEAKER_03 (00:24):
Ashley, wow, it's great to have you on.
We really appreciate it.
So we've got a pretty good bitto unpack with your skill set
and things that you do.
You and I have taken quite a fewclasses together with James
Damont, and we have been tied tosome of the same projects in
your intimacy coordinator role,just not necessarily on set at
(00:47):
the same time.
So I think that's pretty cool.
The stunt coordinator, intimacycoordinator, that stuff is
really, really fascinating.
So we'll we'll dig into some ofthose things and get your take
on them.
SPEAKER_02 (01:01):
I can't wait to hear about it.
But also, hi, welcome to theshow.
Let me get a word in edgewise,TJ.
I know.
How's that for a change?
How about it, Brian?
It's weird for me not to be ableto talk.
SPEAKER_03 (01:16):
I'm like, he he stutter starts a couple times.
So let's cover intimacycoordinator first.
What is an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00 (01:27):
An intimacy coordinator is uh a newer
position, newer onset who uh isin charge of coordinating
intimate scenes.
Intimacy is a huge range.
It could be what your mind goesto, which is two people in a sex
(01:48):
scene, or it could be somethingwith someone just dealing with
their emotions.
What if someone has to have apanic attack in this in the
scene?
You don't just film it once, youfilm it multiple times and you
have multiple tastes.
And if that scene is verydraining for a person or
traumatic for a person, theyhave to be able to come out of
(02:09):
that in a clear mind.
The goal is for everyone to gohome mentally and physically
safe.
It is a job at the end of theday.
You should be able to lead ithere on the set.
If someone can come on and say,Look, they're done, they've done
this enough times, it doesn'tneed to be done anymore.
(02:30):
That can help the actor.
Also, if the performer feelsmore comfortable in that
intimate scene, they can performbetter and they can tell the
story even better than what theythought they could.
And it really brings out theemotion, it brings out the
story.
So it's about making people feelcomfortable in uncomfortable
scenes.
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
That that makes a lot of sense.
Recently I did a play and I hada very, very emotional
monologue.
And after I would finish mymonologue, I would go backstage
and just break down and boo-hoolike a baby because all of the
rest of the emotion dumped atthat moment.
(03:11):
And the some of the peoplestanding around were like, uh we
don't know what to do.
And they just kind of stoodthere.
My and I only was performingonce a night, so it wasn't like
I had to do it multiple timeslike you would filming.
But my wife was backstage andshe would just walk over and put
her hand on my shoulder, and itkind of made it better, you
(03:33):
know.
SPEAKER_00 (03:34):
Yeah, and you know, I'll say this about live
theater.
Intimacy coordinators are forfilm, and intimacy directors are
for live theater.
Um, I've worked with TennesseeWilliams Play Company.
But you feeling that emotionallyconnected to the monologue is
great.
(03:55):
That's awesome.
But that doesn't mean that youshould be able to like you
shouldn't have to take thoseemotions home with you.
And crying about it because youfelt that strongly about it is
beautiful.
But how do you how do you say,okay, cal like calm yourself
down?
That's enough.
It's a separate thing.
That was this character, this isme.
SPEAKER_03 (04:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:14):
So kudos to you.
Great job on the if it made youmove, you moved to someone else.
SPEAKER_03 (04:20):
Thank you.
So when is an intimacycoordinator mandatory versus
when it might only berecommended?
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
Mandatory is for any sex scenes or nudity.
If a character or if an actor isgonna be nude, there has to be
an intimacy coordinator.
If there is going to besimulated sex, there's gotta be
an intimacy coordinator.
And the word of the day issimulated.
It is all simulated.
(04:52):
It is not real.
I have to remind people thatfilm is not real.
We give people a script thatsays exactly what they're gonna
say.
There's a director who's gonnatell them what they're gonna do.
There's a camera that's gonnamake the audience see what they
want them to see.
So, same thing with intimatescenes, it's not real.
(05:14):
So we have to leave it there,and we're not doing anything for
real.
Which there have been filmswhere people had to stimulate
manual simulation on themselves,and that's really uncomfortable.
You shouldn't have to do that.
You are at a job and you shouldbe comfortable at your job.
And I say this to people,especially to the lawyers in my
(05:36):
family, I know a lot of lawyersin the United States of America,
and I'll speak for the UnitedStates only.
You are entitled to aharassment-free workplace.
If I came to your work and Itold you, if I was your boss and
I said, Hey, I'm gonna have youand your coworker do these
intimate acts together, and I'mgonna record it and I'm gonna
(05:57):
get it from this angle, and I'mgonna tell you to stop, and then
I'm gonna get it from thisangle, you would look at me like
I had 10 heads.
So why don't we treat actors thesame way?
We're telling a story, but thatdoesn't mean that they need to
be thrown in and just expectedto do whatever we tell them to
do.
They are human beings, they arenot chess pieces.
So they have their say inboundaries, they they have their
(06:22):
say in what they want seen.
If they don't want a scar seen,they don't have to have it seen
on the camera.
That is their body, it is theirchoice, what is shown.
Because it also lives forever.
As we know, once you putsomething on the internet, once
you put something on TV, it'sthere.
There is no taking it down.
SPEAKER_03 (06:41):
Yeah.
So you mentioned a sex scene ora simulated sex scene.
If you have a male and a femaleon the scene, do you have only
one intimacy coordinator that ishelping both actors, or is there
one for each actor?
Or how does that work?
SPEAKER_00 (06:57):
Normally it's one person.
There's one intimacy coordinatorfor the film, typically, uh,
especially if it's just a scenebetween two individuals.
Now, there are group scenes thatintimacy coordinators had to
work together.
Sometimes they'll ask for anassistant.
I know someone I have not workedon a group scene.
It is on my bucket list.
(07:17):
I really want to, but I went toa conference and the person who
was speaking coordinated a scenewith 50 people in it.
50 people doing simulated sex.
Crazy.
I'm like, how did you do that?
And she showed us her picturesthat she drew, and it looked
like it looked like footballplays.
She had like X's and O's, like,this is one couple, this is
(07:39):
someone else, this is anothergroup.
It was just like X's and O's,and just little stick figure
drawings of what she could comeup with her head.
SPEAKER_02 (07:47):
That's very cool.
And what men might not thinkabout that it helps us too.
And what I mean is I did aclass, so it wasn't even a
simulated sex.
I was just the creepy boss.
And usually in our audition typeclasses, it's like this.
We're just facing the camera andwe're not interacting with the
person.
And that's how this class hadbeen.
Well, when we showed up, they'relike, Oh, you're gonna do your
own blocking, it's gonna be likea scene.
(08:07):
It's like, okay.
And as I'm looking at it, therewas a scene.
If I step in and got rightbehind her, put my hand on her
shoulder, and drop my voice.
And you're gonna do this now.
You know what I mean?
I thought that was a would helpthe scene, but I didn't know, I
I didn't want to just go boom inthe scene.
But we couldn't really talkduring the class.
So I just, are you okay with me?
I don't want to hear what you'redoing.
I said, just no, I'm nottouching anything vital, but I'm
(08:29):
gonna touch your shoulder.
She's like, fine.
So having that permission to letme relax and be in the character
to be as creepy as possible,because I don't want to be that
in real life, you know, correct.
SPEAKER_00 (08:37):
And talking about that consent with some people
don't want to be touched, theyjust don't.
And that's totally fine.
And people should be able to sayif they don't want to be
touched.
So, I mean, being able to asksomeone, hey, is it okay if I do
this?
Some people just want to gocomplete improv.
And if people are okay withthat, great.
(08:58):
That's awesome.
Of course, there are places thatwe aren't we know, or you should
know, that you're not gonnatouch someone.
But sometimes people have theydon't want to be touched in
places, and I'll use hair as anexample.
Some people feel like they canjust touch someone's hair, and
other people are like, why wouldyou touch someone's hair?
So to be able to say, Hey, is itokay if I touch you on the
(09:19):
shoulder?
But you would rather ask thannot ask, and then it come off as
weird, like, oh, he did that.
Like, no, that's not what it is.
We're in a scene.
Again, we're working, we'replaying, it's not real life.
So being able to ask for consentis huge.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
Like just an improv class, you never take your
clothes off in an improv scene.
But if I go, I'm gonna getnaked, I mime, yeah, and a mime
that I'm taking my clothes off.
Well, I did a scene, it was in aclass, and I may have assigned
it, I don't remember, but I wasthe owner of the strip club and
she was the stripper.
And so I was like, take yourclothes off.
She's like, Oh, and then shepulled an imaginary plant in
front of her and I pulled it.
(09:53):
No, no, you got to show it.
Well, I'm thinking we're allclothed and you know,
everything's fine, but that madeher very uncomfortable.
So even that is not fair to her,right?
You know, so if I had known thatbeforehand or realized it, I
didn't pick up on the cuesbecause of course the character
was nervous because I'm thesleazy.
I'm a lot of sleazy characters,I just realized I'm the sleazy
club owner.
So you have to be aware of thattoo.
(10:13):
And not like a not like ahandicap, not like your your
arms are being tied, like, oh, Igotta avoid the Me Too movement.
No, it's just so everybody canplay and everybody can work
together to make the storybetter while not getting into
something that's gonna hurt theperson or get laws, you know,
get me in jail.
SPEAKER_03 (10:29):
Yeah.
Right.
Our class talked about it.
We we all we stood in a circleand we all said what we're
comfortable touching or havingtouched.
And it worked out.
I mean, as far as I know, nobodywas made uncomfortable.
We were careful about it.
SPEAKER_00 (10:43):
So I will say we do that when I'm working and I've
done this in theater and I'vedone this in film.
I will get the performerstogether.
If it's on stage, it's usuallyjust on stage right there.
But if it's a film, especially afilm that I worked on that was a
vertical film, and these wereintense scenes, I had them come
together in a separate room andsaid, look, we're gonna go over
(11:03):
boundaries.
And I had the actors face eachother.
And I said, I want you to gofrom the top of your head all
the way down to your toes andsay, what is okay to touch and
what is not okay.
And I went first.
I said, Top of my head is okayto touch.
You can touch my hair, you cantouch my forehead, my face is
okay, my lips are fine, my neckis okay, my upper chest is fine,
(11:25):
not my breast, my stomach isfine, my arms are fine, and went
all the way down to my toes ofwhat is okay and what's not
okay.
And then I'll have the otherperson do.
It's like, okay, we have bothjust communicated to each other
what is okay and what is not.
And if you actually, if I hadsaid that my arm, I don't want
my arm touched.
One, I don't have to give areason.
You don't need a reason.
(11:45):
You can just say I don't want myarm touched.
Fine by me.
It's if you accidentally touchedmy arm, just let's say, hey, I
don't want my arm touched.
Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot.
Forgive and move on.
Most of the time, people are nottrying to hurt one another.
SPEAKER_03 (11:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:59):
It's an accident.
SPEAKER_03 (12:00):
Sure.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
So it's important to say those boundaries.
So it's like, okay, we knowthis, but if an accident
happens, let's say I'm sorry,move on, and let's just keep
going.
SPEAKER_03 (12:09):
That's a really good approach.
With your certification, Iunderstand that it took quite a
while to go through all that,right?
Didn't it?
Didn't you work on that for awhile?
SPEAKER_00 (12:18):
Yes.
So I trained with intimacycoordinators and directors, IDC.
Uh, I did, it took me aboutthree years to do this.
It's a new program.
They are fixing some thingswithin it.
And originally you had to gothrough levels one, two, and
three, apply for in-persontraining, and then you would go,
but they only accepted 10 peopleat the time.
(12:38):
I got to the interview phase,didn't they get further.
They revamped their program, putmore things online, which was
most of the things that I hadalready done, which was nice,
and I got a refresher.
And then you could apply to dothe in-person training, and they
took significantly more people.
So I was, I went to Minnesotaand I was in a group of about 25
(12:58):
other intimacy coordinators fromaround the world.
I'm not exaggerating at all.
We had people from California,New York.
I'm the I was the only personfrom South.
We had friends from Greece,Italy, Turkey.
Our friend in Turkey is the veryfirst intimacy coordinator in
Turkey, which is really cool.
Uh, friends in England andIreland.
(13:22):
Our friend in Ireland was acostumer on Game of Thrones,
which is really cool.
So just so many people with somuch more experience than me.
I got to learn, I got to learn alot.
It was a lot of fun.
It was very tiring.
It was a very long week.
SPEAKER_03 (13:38):
Very cool.
Is it predominantly women thatare intimacy coordinators?
Are there men that do it aswell?
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
I have found that intimacy coordinators tend to be
more women or female presenting,but that doesn't mean that men
or male presenting can't beintimacy coordinators.
There are definitely there needsto be some.
Just like stunt coordinators,most stunt coordinators are men.
That doesn't mean that womencan't.
There should definitely be, thatdoesn't mean that women can't.
There should definitely be morewomen stunt coordinators or
(14:06):
female presenting stuntcoordinators.
Same thing with intimacy.
Everyone experiences intimacy.
So there should be intimacycoordinators of all different
shapes and sizes and genders andeverything.
SPEAKER_03 (14:17):
Yeah.
So what made you decide tobecome an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00 (14:21):
I was scrolling on TikTok when I saw this for the
first time.
And it's something that I wasalways curious about because I,
from watching so many films andmaking films with friends, it's
something that I wanted to knowhow to do.
Because, like stunts, you needsomeone who knows what they're
doing to be able to coordinatethat scene.
(14:41):
So I believed that most stuntcoordinators were in charge of
intimate scenes.
So I was really more curiousabout how they did it.
And I started going through whatit takes to become an intimacy
coordinator.
And I was just really interestedin the topic and making it look
real.
Because if you if you're in apeople who have been in a real
fist fight, it doesn't look thesame as doing a fist fight on
(15:06):
camera.
There are angles, there are,you're not actually hitting
someone.
That's a big thing.
You're not actually hittingsomeone when you're stunt
fighting.
Whereas if you're real fighting,you know, you're hitting
someone.
Same thing with film.
I know in real life, people areactually doing things, but on
film they can't.
So how are they doing that?
I just loved researching andwatching films and trying to
(15:27):
catch those moments that youcould see a barrier.
So I wanted to figure it out.
I wanted to figure out themagic.
SPEAKER_03 (15:34):
Should we be thinking about using an intimacy
coordinator for these lowbudget, you know, non-union
projects, or just do like Briansaid, and have the conversation
(16:23):
beforehand and make sure we knowwhat we're comfortable with?
SPEAKER_00 (16:26):
I would absolutely suggest if you have an intimate
scene, I would say have anintimacy coordinator.
Now, the problem is with lowbudget films, if they want, I'm
pretty sure, and I could bewrong on this, but low budget
SAG films or ultra low, I thinkit's against the contract to
(16:47):
have intimate scenes becausethey don't have a budget for an
intimacy coordinator.
Now, if there are more peoplewho are learning, maybe, or how
learning how to be an intimacycoordinator, maybe that would go
away.
But from what I understand,low-budget films aren't supposed
to because they can't pay for anintimacy coordinator and
(17:07):
guarantee that everyone's goingto be safe now.
If you're not gonna follow therules and you're trying to film
something, I would highly,highly, highly, highly, highly
suggest having an intimacycoordinator.
And from the beginning, in anyproject, if there's something
intimate, there should be anintimacy coordinator from the
beginning.
So they can look at the scripttoo and say, hey, you don't just
(17:30):
have one intimacy, you have abunch more that can all play a
part of the story and build yourstory.
But again, it's about the Ithink it's about the budget,
honestly.
You want to make sure thatintimacy coordinator can be
paid, but you want to make surethat people can be safe.
And what is the point of theintimacy within the film?
You know, I just I if anything,your question makes me have 20
(17:53):
more questions to ask about it.
And I would want to help just tomake sure that people are
filming and it's I want intimacycoordinators to become more in
the practice and not a secondthought.
I want that to be a firstthought for anyone.
So I'm happy to help people whoneed an intimacy coordinator,
even if they don't have a largebudget.
If you're gonna do it, which itsounds like people are gonna do
(18:16):
it, let's do it correctly.
Let's make sure people are safeand there is someone there who
can speak for them and theydon't feel like they're, oh, I'm
gonna make them upset if I don'tdo this, and then have them be
uncomfortable because then thatjust opens so many doors for
issues and potential trauma.
SPEAKER_03 (18:33):
Right.
And so does the intimacycoordinator have to be
officially certified like youare, or can it be somebody that
was going through training likeyou did for three years?
SPEAKER_00 (18:43):
Yes.
And I I did my training, thein-person training was was a
certificate intensive, and I amcertificate pending.
For me to get my finalcertificate, I need 10 days on
set as an intimacy coordinator.
So I have one thing booked inOctober, I'm looking for other
projects.
But see, that I think it I thinkit depends because there I know
(19:04):
intimacy coordinators who arenot stacked, but they were
grandfathered in orgrandmothered in, I should say,
because they worked for so longand did these types of scenes
that they already know how to doit.
There's not there's not adefinite book on how to do this.
I hope that answers yourquestion.
SPEAKER_03 (19:23):
It does.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, maybe maybe you need towrite the book on it.
SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
Yeah, we need a lot of help with that.
Oh, there's so many things thatcould go in that book.
My lord.
SPEAKER_02 (19:34):
I know I know at least one more intimacy
coordinator who I could put youin contact with.
You know, Devin McNair.
SPEAKER_00 (19:39):
I know Devin.
I talked to her the other day,actually.
SPEAKER_02 (19:42):
She's so sweet.
I met her when I took mytheatrical combat class.
So they did a QA, they broughther in, and she talked about the
stunts.
She used to be a wrestler andintimacy coordination.
So hello, you already know her,I can't help you.
SPEAKER_00 (19:53):
But she's a very knowledgeable person about the
film world and stunts andintimacy.
So I hope I hope to work morewith her in the future.
That's just me.
SPEAKER_02 (20:02):
Me too, but I want to work with everybody except
for TJ.
I've had enough.
Not only talking about SAG lowbudgets, and then you have
non-union, which can be evenless, could be more.
They just don't want to dealwith the union.
But then there are things likewe do the 48-hour film, and we
do independent films for nomoney with our friends.
And I have an example of one, Iwon't say what it was.
I don't work with this personanymore, and I don't even think
(20:24):
they in our little circle of theindustry, but in that film, he
was the lead actor, and the leadactress was willing to do a sex
scene.
But it was supposed to be crude,but a room full of people, and
they met at a hotel and he wasthe only one there.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:37):
See, it's it's like crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (20:39):
That's terrible.
SPEAKER_00 (20:40):
Where it's like, yeah, hmm, that's that's why
they don't want non-union orsuper, super indie film that
you're just making with people,because I pray that it didn't go
any further than that.
I hope that that person is okay.
But that that is not the firsttime that I've heard that.
That's terrifying.
You again, it's a job.
(21:01):
You're signing up to do a job,and no one should be trying to
take advantage of you for doingthe job.
Oh gosh, yeah, that that'sterrifying.
SPEAKER_02 (21:11):
I've also heard kind of horror stories from being a
background person.
The ladies' different movieswould come to me, one of them is
my friend, and she had threedifferent guys.
One might have been a stalker,one was uh socially inept, so
didn't pick up on cues, and oneguy was just weird, maybe in
between.
And so she'd come and we'd talk,we're sitting in holding with a
chair, and and he had done thison other sets, the real bad one.
(21:31):
Even though she was married,he'd still talk to her, like,
hey, baby, you know.
So I'm playing with my phone,we're waiting, and she goes,
Here he comes.
And I go, What do you mean,darling?
Or something like that to saythis is my woman.
And he went, Oh, which is stillweird because she's already
married, you know.
And other ladies would beshooting a pool scene, not
swimming, playing pool.
So they're bent over, and therewere different guys who would
come up and bump them with theirhips.
(21:51):
So even in background, stupid, Ican't even stress the word
strong enough, evil shit washappening.
Yeah, you know, God forbid thedance scene when people are
rubbing up on each other.
Not only is the world now youhave to have consent, but just
what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (22:04):
Well, it's also just a reminder on film sets,
background people are not chesspieces.
You are human beings withfeelings and emotions, and
you're at a job.
No one should be making you feeluncomfortable.
If you do feel uncomfortable,tell that person.
If there is an intimacycoordinator, you can ask them.
Now, I will say an intimacycoordinator is not HR, but
(22:26):
there's not really HR on set.
So definitely try and talk tothat person and say that's not
okay.
Don't be silent about it.
Tell them if it happens again,tell someone else, talk to a PA,
talk to an AD.
If there is an intimacycoordinator, ask them.
An intimacy coordinator is notgonna mind trying to disrupt
harmful behavior because that isharmful behavior.
It makes the set uncomfortablefor people.
(22:48):
No one wants to beuncomfortable.
It's an uncomfortable feeling tobe uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Right.
I do know on that set anincident had happened the day
before the one I just describedwith a totally different person,
and they went to an AD and thatperson was thrown off the set
immediately.
Good.
SPEAKER_00 (23:00):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (23:01):
So there are protections in place, and we
just have to hope that,especially ladies, guys, it
would probably be different, butthere are instances of that will
have to stand up a little bitfor themselves or get someone to
help stand up with them.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Right, but also at the end of the day, no one
should have to stand up forthemselves.
SPEAKER_02 (23:17):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:18):
Why can't people be kind to their coworkers?
You are co-workers, that is whatyou are.
I mean, just be nice to peopleand respect each other.
It all comes down to respect.
Just because you see somethingthat you like doesn't mean you
have to touch it or them.
Yes, it's restraint.
We deal with it or restraint.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Yeah, nobody owes you anything.
And I know this is a work scene,but if a lady buys you dinner,
she doesn't owe you anything,guys, which should be just
common sense.
SPEAKER_00 (23:41):
But common sense ain't that common.
SPEAKER_02 (23:43):
If common sense were common, it would just be called
sense.
SPEAKER_00 (23:45):
Correct.
Correct.
You know, I will say there is alot of harmful behavior that can
be on set, but when you have ascene, and I I tend to find when
it's more of a serious subject,people tend to be more way more
respectful, which is great.
I worked on a film that's notout yet, but it was uh an
attempt sexual assault scene.
(24:06):
So there was a little bit ofstunts and a little bit of
intimacy.
I think you had this guy slammedthis girl on the table.
He brings his hand up her leg.
I mean, that's a hard scene tofilm.
And she's screaming, he'sscreaming back at her.
But these two actors werephenomenal.
They talked to each other.
I talked with them.
(24:27):
They were very comfortable.
They were very respectful.
And the scene, I started crying.
It was very moving.
It was great.
But sometimes those scenes canhave both in them.
And I tend when they do havefine, when they do have both in
them, the actors who areportraying those characters are
very, very, very respectful.
It's more of a comedy scenewhere people are like, oh, it's
a joke.
We're playing.
(24:47):
It's like, okay, we still haveto have the same amount of
respect, whether the scene isreally intense or supposed to be
really funny.
We still need that same amountof respect.
SPEAKER_02 (24:55):
Right, right.
Yeah.
And that really should bediscussed before you even sign a
contract, probably beforeaudition.
This will require nudity.
This is the what the role is.
SPEAKER_00 (25:03):
Absolutely.
If you have an intimacycoordinator, you should have
them in the beginning of theprocess, in the beginning,
before casting.
And I say before casting becauseif you have a film and you say
it is important for this film,for this person to be topless in
this scene and for these peopleto do this intimate act.
That's fine.
Let's do it.
(25:23):
I am not the prude police.
Intimacy coordinators are notprude police.
We want to help you as much aspossible.
But we're not just going tospring that on people.
It's going to, it has to be inthe casting notice.
You have to be okay with this.
We need to cover those basesbefore, because you don't want
to come on set and then thatperson revoke their consent last
minute.
And then you're like, you eitherhave to completely change the
(25:44):
scene or you have to findanother actor.
Well, why are we even in thatsituation?
Let's get it right the firsttime.
Know who we're casting, makesure that they're okay with it.
Then we have contracts that arecalled writers, nudity writers
or sex writers that they sign,which has their boundaries, the
definitions, and basically whatthey're agreeing to and what the
scene is.
(26:04):
And then there are additionalrules to those contracts.
You, if you're in a scene andyou have signed a writer and
you've done the take a couple oftimes and you're like, I don't
want to do this anymore.
I'm done.
You are absolutely allowed tosay that and be done.
But you can't take back thefootage that has already been
filmed.
And then if they want to have abody double, that body double
(26:25):
who is replacing your body inthat scene gets the same exact
contract that you signed.
It is your body that is beingportrayed.
So it is your contract that theyhave to sign.
They don't get to do anythingextra in that scene.
If a person's chest was coveredand they're like, I didn't want
my chest seen, and they're like,oh, well, I'm okay with that.
Good for them.
That's wonderful.
But they're following that samecontract.
No if, ands, or buts.
(26:46):
And contracts are not just forthe actors.
I will say this.
It is also for the protection ofthe director and the producers.
If you sign a contract thatsays, for example, I don't want
my right arm seen, you sign thatcontract.
The production company signsthat contract.
You have an agreement that saysthat this arm will not be seen.
And the definition says from thetip of the elbow to the
(27:07):
fingertips.
That is the agreement.
If the production company goesagainst that contract and shows
this arm, you as the actor cansue the production company.
No one wants to be sued.
The contracts are to protect theperformers and the production
company, directors, and everyoneinvolved.
This is supposed to be a blanketcovering.
That's why you want to havesomeone in the beginning.
(27:29):
No one wants legal battles.
It's not fun.
It costs money.
Don't do that.
Get your ducks in the linebeforehand.
Get an intimacy coordinator ifyou think you need one.
Get everything you need.
Make sure the actors know whatthey're doing, what they're
being cast for, what the sceneis, so that they can make that
decision because that's theirdecision.
You can't make them do that.
So sorry.
SPEAKER_03 (27:49):
Makes sense.
SPEAKER_02 (27:50):
Okay, Ashley, you've given us a lot to think about.
All good stuff, but it's a lot.
So let's end the episode here.
But we're going to come backwith a part two so we can talk
about all your stunt work andmaybe your acting and writing
too.
SPEAKER_03 (28:01):
Ashley, thanks for joining us.
This was a great conversation.
Very, very interesting stuff.
I can't wait to see you for parttwo to talk about being a stunt
player.
Thanks again.
We'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_00 (28:12):
Thank you.
Come back for part two.
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