Do I need an Intimacy Coordinator or Director?
An intimacy professional maintains union-mandated working standards while supporting the actor’s creative process and director’s artistic vision, resulting in intimate storytelling rooted in truth and personal safety.
On set and on stage, Maria works with actors one-on-one through character prep, identifying boundaries, and choreographing moments of intimacy. She facilitates conversations between actors and director to maintain boundaries and artistic vision, and collaborates with relevant departments to identify necessary intimacy garments and barriers in scenes with actual and implied nudity and simulated sex. Maria choreographs scenes with implied nudity, simulated sex, and advises productions on best practices, closed set protocol, and nudity/intimacy riders.
In the classroom, Maria teaches student actors the language around consent, establishing boundaries, and choreographing moments of intense conflict and sexuality.
Maria is an LGBTQIA+ and DEI advocate, consent educator, and is certified in Mental Health First Aid and bystander intervention.