Sexology

Welcome to Episode 471 of the Sexology Podcast! Today I am excited to be joined by Ita O’Brien, who speaks to me about intimacy coordination, embodied consent, and creating safety and authenticity in intimate storytelling.In this episode, I sit down with Ita to discuss what an intimacy coordinator actually does and why this role has become so essential in film, television, and theatre. We talk about how intimacy coordination brings structure, clarity, and care to intimate scenes, not only to protect performers, but to serve the story, the characters, and the creative vision. Ita O’Brien is an intimacy coordinator and movement director for film, television, and theater. For more than a decade, she has been developing “intimacy on set” guidelines: best practices for working on scenes with sexual content and nudity in film, TV, and theater. O’Brien pioneered the role of intimacy coordinator, which is used in production companies including HBO and Netflix. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Gu