Building a safe environment on film sets in Serbia with Intimacy Coordinators

UN Women partnered with renowned actor Milan Maric and the Association of Psychotherapists in Serbia to introduce intimacy coordinators to film and TV production in response to concerns raised by the Balkan #MeToo movement about safeguarding on sets.

In Serbia, when actors and actresses engage in fight scenes on film sets, they rely on fight coordinators to determine the specific moves, tone, and pacing of each fight sequence to ensure safety. It logically follows that when actors and actresses in Serbia are filming intimate scenes, an expert should be there to set boundaries and help them feel safe. However, actors and especially actresses in the country are often exposed to discomfort during the filming of intimate scenes.

With the support of UN Women in Serbia, famous actor Milan Maric initiated this change during the summer, in collaboration with Association of Psychotherapists. Maric argues that filming intimate scenes has been left to the actors to organize themselves and sometimes, even without any malicious intent, one party can make the other person feel uncomfortable.

"The question is – what is acceptable to whom and how far an actor or actress is allowed to go. Introducing an Intimacy Coordinator would make it all easier; it would develop a sense of security and leave more room for the actors to actually do their work," Maric said.

Intimacy Coordinators represent a new category of professionals who work on film and television sets to ensure that boundaries are discussed and negotiated, and that every step of a scene is mutually agreed upon and choreographed in the same way as a fight or a dance sequence. At the same time, they need to balance the safety of performers alongside the vision of writers and directors. As defined by the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, an Intimacy Coordinator is “an advocate, a liaison between actors and production…in regard to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.”
According to Milana Rikanovic, the Head of UN Women in Serbia, #MeToo movement and its Balkan counterpart have created a social climate and awareness around issues related to consent and harassment, which were a necessary precursor in the film industry.

"We have noticed in the film industry, as well as in other areas of our lives, that boundaries can sometimes be unclear to people and women are the ones who suffer more, and that is why we supported the initiative for introducing Intimacy Coordinators," Rikanovic emphasized. She added that the plan is to create an accredited course, which the Serbian Association of Psychotherapists is currently developing, to train individuals to become Intimacy Coordinators. The course is set to start in October, with the first generation of trained Intimacy Coordinators expected to begin working next year.

The first generation of Intimacy Coordinators will include psychologists who possess the required knowledge to protect psychological safety and restore it when it is threatened, as explained by Kristina Brajovic Car from the Serbian Association of Psychotherapists.

"This means that the first generation of students will be educated about what trauma is, how it (trauma) can be recognized, or found hidden under carpet, but also how to prevent neglecting real trauma that is perhaps part of the actor's private experience," Brajovic Car explained, adding that they will be trained by a group of psychotherapists and film industry professionals.

She concluded that the initiative marks the beginning of a broader journey aimed at changing the mindset of people in the film and TV industry.