On Thursday September 18th, intimacy director, actor and educator Atalanta Siegel visited the MFA Film first and second-years to conduct a 3-hour workshop at Athena SPLC on directing and intimacy coordination for film.
Siegel, originally from Washington, DC and now working in Atlanta, specializes in film acting, Shakespeare, stage combat, new work development, and trauma-informed arts education. Their previous intimacy and stage combat credits include: Three Tall Persian Women, In The Blood, 9-5 The Musical, and independent films such as The Mountaintop and True Love. They are also the Managing Director of Whet Ink Productions, a production company fostering new work from marginalized voices.
As part of their Directing classes and prep for upcoming productions, students learned from Siegel’s experience as an intimacy coordinator (termed intimacy director in theatre), and participated in a directing workshop to put this knowledge into practice ahead of their next films.
Siegel went over what is classified as intimacy on a film set (including nudity, physical proximity, touch, and even emotionally vulnerable scenes), and what exactly an intimacy coordinator does on set, like coordinating with various departments to ensure performers’ safety and to respect boundaries. Students learned tips on approaching intimacy coordination from Siegel’s experience in both film and theatre, and how this role facilitates and strengthens the filmmaking process between director and actor.
Siegel is also a part of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC), the leading and largest organization training and certifying intimacy professionals worldwide. This organization strives to equip artists in the entertainment industry with resources and education through the role of intimacy professionals, in order to produce intimate stories in entertainment with both artistry and safety. Members of IDC have worked at every level of the entertainment industry, including HBO, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix and on Broadway.
Students were briefed on what would be covered at the workshop, and were able to submit questions for Siegel in advance. Siegel taught basic protocols regarding consent in film production using the acronym CRISP: Clear, Reversible, Informed, Specific, and Participatory. Then, they led a participatory workshop in which students volunteered as director and performers to walk through the process of intimacy coordination. Under Siegel’s guidance, second-year MFA student Christopher Pendry directed a short scene with second-year students Eric Walters and John Gardner (pictured).