CONTENT WARNING: This blog post contains mentions of sexual violence and uses language and examples that could be upsetting. Please read with discretion. 

Potentiality Statement: My name is Audrey Gatewood, and I am a senior-year Social Work student at UMBC, and field intern at the Women’s Center. In this blog I am writing about the relatively new position of an Intimacy Coordinator on film and theater sets. I describe the need for intimacy coordinators, what they do, how they are being used, and the larger cultural implications of creating this new role. I have an educational background in theater and film production and work as a photographer. Additionally much of my academic focus has been around sexual and gender based violence. The implementation of intimacy coordinators on sets is an exciting move towards safer and more equitable work environments for actors. Please note, I am not an intimacy coordinator, and I have never worked with or interviewed one. I am writing from research I have done, and general observations and understandings around production environments and rape culture. I will be talking about actors in film and theater interchangeably, though there are nuanced differences in their work circumstances, history and experiences. 

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones during the filming of Normal People.Photography Enda Bowe/BBC/Element Pictures/Hulu . Image shows a bedroom film set, with two white people laying together in a white bed, undressed covered by sheets. They are surrounded by camera and lighting equipment, and two film crew members directing the scene. 

In the 1972 drama, Last Tango in Paris, actress Maria Schnieder was 19 years old and new to the film industry. So, when she arrived on set and was told, unbeknownst to her previously, that she would need to shoot a graphic scene where her character would be raped, she felt she couldn’t say no. Schnieder was working with esteemed Hollywood star Marlon Brando, 48 years old at the time, and director Bernardo Bertolucci, 31. She spoke on the incident in an interview in 2007: 

“ They only told me about it before we had to film the scene and I was so angry. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can’t force someone to do something that isn’t in the script, but at the time, I didn’t know that. Marlon said to me: ‘Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie’, but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn’t real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn’t console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take” https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/11/26/story-behind-filmmaker-bernardo-bertoluccis-last-public-controversy/ 

Actors may find themselves in challenging, harmful or unethical work situations where their boundaries are blurred. Not many other jobs pose the risks associated with having to simulate scenarios that could involve violence, emotional turmoil, physically demanding stunts, nudity and vulnerable intimacy. This can be paired with power dynamics, the high stakes of a professional acting role, and the expectation that the actor should be willing to do anything for the character, like we see in the case of Maria Schnieder.   

That being said, if you ask someone if there should be a stunt coordinator on an action movie, they might say “of course.” What about someone to choreograph a fight? Of course, you wouldn’t just tell an actor to swing swords at each other, or jump out of a building, would you? 

While stunts and fights are understood as explicitly risky, scenes which involve intimacy generate risk as well. If done unethically, sex and nudity in productions can be traumatic experiences for actors, who may be expected to just ‘know how’ to portray intimacy, be comfortable being exposed, and endure the blurring of their personal boundaries versus the wants of the director. Intimacy coordinator Clare Worden says, “It ranges from the just really awkward and uncomfortable, to finding tongues in your mouth when you don’t expect a tongue in your mouth, and it all goes all the way up the scale to, you know, full-on sexual assault.” Intimacy coordinator and the associate director and co-founder of Intimacy Directors International (IDI) Alicia Rodis says, “ “[…] violent scenes we could choreograph, we could talk about. But when we got to intimate scenes, no one really knew how to approach it, or really have a common language about [them].” Stunt coordinators and combat choreographers have been staples on large productions for decades. And though intimacy has been featured in film and theater for just as long, it’s only recently that a new position has been established: An intimacy coordinator.  

An intimacy coordinator brings professional skills and ethical perspectives to choreographing intimate scenes in theater and film. Their job is to work with the director and actors to map out the specifics of a sex scene, so that boundries are clear and informed consent can be granted. The actors will rehearse the scenes with the coordinator present, creating a safe technical foundation for the actors to work from. Special protective cups, modesty garments, tapes, and other tools are included, as well.  “My motto is no surprises- we should have a very clear plan before we get to set about what’s going to happen,” says intimacy coordinator Lindsay Somers. “[We discuss] the degree of nudity, wardrobe, and choreography for the scene, and the performers personal boundaries are included in the choreography. They aren’t puppets or chess pieces to be moved around.”  

A major benefit of having an intimacy coordinator on set is that they can act as liaisons and advocates for actors’ boundaries. They are informed about actors’ contracts, workplace safety rights, specifics of the script, and consensually decide on choreography, making them theoretically unwavering to boundary-violating suggestions. Consider Maria Schnieder’s experience, and how it could have been different had there been an intimacy coordinator on set to help her say no in the face of two powerful, older men. 

More and more productions are employing intimacy coordinators, perhaps in response to highly publicized social movements and controversies. For example, Hollywood had a reckoning in 2017 through the ‘#MeToo’ movement, branching off of earlier work done by activist Tarana Burke, in which people who had experienced sexual violence shared a solidarity hashtag, ‘metoo,’ on social media. Hollywood actors joined the movement, and in the process exposed predatory figures in the industry, most notably producer Harvey Weinstien, who had more then 80 allegations of sexual assault and rape against him. This cultural moment set off a public discourse about sexual assault on sets, and perhaps created an environment where more actors felt empowered coming forward.

Infographic from Consent Wizardry

Emilia Clarke, famous for playing Daenerys Targarye on HBO’s Game of Thrones, is one in a growing list of actors who have publicly stated they felt pressured or disregarded during filming on intimate scenes on set. Clarke said she found herself vulnerable to the demands of the directors, noting that she initially acquiesced to such explicit on-screen nudity because she was 23 years old and fresh out of school, working on her first major film set. “I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, ‘No, sheet stays up,’ and they’re like, ‘You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans.’ And I’m like, ‘F*** you.'” 

Perhaps as a response to the negative backlash HBO and GOT faced from Clarke’s comments, and the overall shift from #MeToo, not only HBO but Amazon Prime and Netflix now require intimacy coordinators on their sets, and many other recent productions have employed them as well. Bridgerton, Euphoria, and I Will Destroy You are just a few of many recent productions that utilize intimacy coordinators. 

In 2019, The biggest U.S. actors union adopted new guidelines for nudity and simulated sex scenes. It seems the relatively new implementation of the intimacy coordinator is here to stay on film and theater sets. 

Intimacy coordinator Alicia Rodis on set. CBS NEWS. Three people film a scene outdoors;  a Black woman with long locs lays on the ground on a tarp like material with a white, shirtless man kneeling above her. An additional person, Alicia Rodis, squats to the right of the actors, speaking and gesturing towards the woman. Camera equipment is visible in the background

As Alicia Rodis points out, violence and stunts have been comfortably choreographed on sets for years, but productions have been unequip for forthright and equitable conversations about sex, intimacy and nudity. Culturally, we are adjusted to displays of violence as entertainment, but view intimacy both as so sensitive that we struggle to be transparent about it, and yet entertaining enough to feature in tons of media. Without a clarified professional or process on set, who is guiding the intimacy? 

I would argue it’s our broad, cultural understandings around sex running the show, which is a potentially dangerous thing. Unfortunately, our larger culture around sex is often not healthy or transparent, rather it dictated by what scholars call rape culture. The term rape culture refers to a setting in which the normalization of rape, assault, and coercion are intertwined with common attitudes about gender and sex in general. This can show up in more subtle, daily occurrences, such as how the news covers instances of sexual violence using minimizing language, and the aligned social commentary that follows. For example, the following is a headline from The Sun, a Brisish tabloid news paper, covering the rape and murder of 20 year old India Chipchase by Edward Tenniswood : “Woman ‘drank six Jagerbombs in ten minutes on the night she was raped and murdered.” The staff’s attempt to pin blame on Chipchase for drinking creates a direct, common scapegoat: she was asking for it. 

  Rape culture also shows up, for example, in how a friend may talk about a date they went on, where they saw how their date was dressed as a form of consent. Studies show that college students frequently do not have a consistent definition of consent, and displayed varrying attitudes and experiences around sex based on gendered expectations. Rape culture can appear as victim blaming, sexual objectification, ‘slut-shaming,’ trivializing sexual harm, and more- all of which is influenced by media that doesn’t approach intimacy with a safe, consent-based framework. 

Even as there is an increase in the prevalence of intimacy coordinators, there is still a skepticism attached to the role. Intimacy coordinator Elle McAlpine says, “When we go on set, we’re sometimes called the fun police. It’s not about that; it’s about educating people about this work.” This displays both a misunderstanding of the coordinators job, and a telling indicator of rape culture. What does it mean that when someone being deliberate, negotiating and enforcing boundaries, and being explicit and intentional about intimacy, is considered ruining the ‘fun’? 

It seems that the use of intimacy coordinators is only going to increase from here on, which could indicate a positive collective shift in how we are viewing intimacy and consent. The amplification of intimacy coordinators as critical crew members will hopefully continue to bring conversations around consent and autonomy to the collective forefront, and make sets a safer place for actors to work. 

Additional Reference

Baldwin-White, A. (2021). “When a Girl Says No, You Should Be Persistent Until She Says Yes”: College Students and Their Beliefs About Consent. Journal of Interpersonal Violence

CBS Interactive.  How intimacy coordinators are changing the way intimate encounters are filmed. CBS News. 

Hilton, E. (2021, May 13). Let’s talk about simulated sex: Intimacy coordinators two years on. The Hollywood Reporter. 

Izadi, E. (2018, November 26). The story behind filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci’s last public controversy. The Washington Post.

Lewis, S. (2019, November 21). Emilia Clarke says she’s been pressured to film nude scenes after “Game of thrones”. CBS News.

SAG, Standards protocols for the use of intimacy coordinators .

BEYA STEM Career Fair (FREE – Both In-Person or Virtual)

Friday, February 10, 2023

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Open to ALL Students (undergraduate and graduate)

Jobs--full-time, part-time, internships and graduate admissions

This event is sponsored by Career Communications Group (CCG) and is part of their large annual conference. Representatives from major corporations and universities will be available to meet virtually with students pursuing careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields as well as Business, Finance, and Marketing. Why should you participate?

·       FREE Virtual Career Fair

·       Career seminar Options

·       On the spot job offers

·       Networking with recruiters

·       Learn and network with the country's best and brightest STEM minds.

Registration is required. Deadline to register is Thursday, February 9. You may still register for the virtual conference after the deadline. However, it will take about 15-30 minutes for registrations to be activated and to gain access to the platform.

·       To register, please follow the instructions at:

https://careers.umbc.edu/beya/

·       Please be sure to upload your resume at the time of registration.

Contact Diane Crump-Fogle (crump@umbc.edu) or Stephanie Taylor Okoukoni (staylor18@umbc.edu) at the UMBC Career Center for additional information.

The latest publication from the Blaney Lab is titled, "Recent advances in Donnan dialysis processes for water/wastewater treatment and resource recovery: A critical review". This review is a collaborative effort by CBEE authors Hui Chen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michael Rose, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Michael Fleming, Environmental Engineering PhD student, Sahar Souizi, Environmental Engineering PhD student, Utsav Shashvatt Ph.D. ‘21, Environmental Engineering , and Lee Blaney, Professor. The paper describes the use of Donnan dialysis as a sustainable method for removing contaminants and recovering resources from water and wastewater.

Donnan dialysis involves the use of an ion-exchange membrane to separate a feed solution containing a target ion from a draw solution with a high concentration of acid, base, or salt. The electrochemical potential gradients of the target and draw ions across the membrane facilitate transport phenomena that can be exploited for contaminant removal or resource recovery.

In the paper, the authors highlight the need for a consistent framework for the design and interpretation of Donnan dialysis systems using the Rd/w concept and evaluate the impacts of solution properties, membrane characteristics, and system configuration on the effectiveness of the process. They also discuss the use of Donnan dialysis for the treatment and recovery of metals, nutrients, and other inorganic and organic chemicals.

The authors also provided recommendations for future studies to fill knowledge gaps and promote new opportunities in the field. Overall, this paper serves as an important resource for those working on Donnan dialysis for clean water and circular economy purposes.

DoD CySP Cybersecurity Scholarships at UMBC

UMBC participates in the CySP scholarship (formerly IASP) funded by the Department of Defense (DoD). This full-ride scholarship is available for rising junior and senior undergraduate and graduate students who are studying cybersecurity. Scholars gain hands-on experience through information security internships, and post-graduation is required to fulfill one year of service to the DoD.

US citizenship is required. For full-time rising juniors, MS, MPS, or Ph.D. students in cybersecurity-related programs at UMBC (including CMSC, CE, IS, Cyber). Must be capable of obtaining a top-secret security clearance. Must agree to work for DoD. We seek strong students with a high GPA (> 3.0), high test scores, cybersecurity experience, strong upper-level technical courses, passion for cybersecurity, dedicated to working for the government.

Hello Retrievers and Welcome to 2023! We hope that the New Year is off to a great start for each of you. Whether you are participating in Winter Session classes or getting ready for the upcoming Spring Semester, this is an optimal time to begin thinking about opportunities that can help you build skills, gain experience in your field of study, and help you to navigate your career path. One great way to bring all of these elements together is through an internship. Many companies are posting internships now for Summer or Fall 2023, so this is a great moment to start your internship journey!

You may be asking, what exactly is an internship? It is a professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work related to a student's field of study or career interest. It benefits both the student and the employer by supporting the students' career development while the employer gains new ideas, fresh energy, and the new employee potential that an intern can bring to their site.

Internships provide an array of benefits for students including opportunities to:

• Network in an industry of interest - Make valuable career connections in the form of professional references, connections to future job opportunities, or possible mentors or career guides for your career journey.
• Gain work experience - An internship will allow you to add real world work experience to your resume. Even if ultimately you decide to pursue a different occupation or industry from that of your internship, all experience is valuable and shows future employers your impact. You will also experience a professional environment which can help you to understand where you may thrive, i.e. a traditional office vs. working outdoors, as well as to develop important skills in interacting with a supervisor, learning company culture, and collaborating on group projects.
• Develop transferrable skills - Building on the previous point, skills developed at any internship are transferrable across positions and industries, especially career readiness skills such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. This will also help boost your confidence in the workplace and in your future job search. These skills learned on the job can also be immediately applied in your academic course work through strengthening your leadership in group projects, enhancing communications with peers and professors, and shaping your academic course trajectory to develop skills relevant for a desired industry.
• Earn transcript recognition or academic credit - Career Center courses, such as the Intern Success Practicum or PRAC 102 for On-Campus jobs, provide a zero-credit, transcript notation highlighting your commitment to the career development process. These courses also provide important reflection opportunities to help you identify and articulate the transferrable skills you are learning.  You may also be able to earn upper-level academic credit for your experience via a course in your academic department. Many departments require the Intern Success Practicum as a co-requisite for earning internship/research credit, so contact the Career Center as well as a faculty member in your department for more information.
• Learn career likes and dislikes - Given the short term nature of an internship, it allows you to learn about a job, company, and industry before committing. This is an opportunity to not only learn about the position, but also about yourself - your preferences, skills, abilities, values and personality. These insights provide valuable information that can help align your educational and experiential choices with a career path that is going to be the right fit for you.
• Jumpstart your career - The statistics are impressive: according to What to Become, 50% of companies convert internships into full time positions, increasing the possibility that a company where you interned will hire you after graduation since they know you are a fast learner and an asset to the company. Regardless, completing an internship at any company increases job offers by 16% for all the reasons outlined above.

Want to get started with your internship search? Here are a few ideas:

• Get your resume reviewed during Winter Drop-In Hours
• Schedule an appointment with a Career Advisor
• Search for opportunities directly in Handshake
• Attend the Spring 2023 Career and Internship Fair

The Career Center is back in business following Winter Break, so feel free to connect with us in-person on the 2nd floor of the Math and Psychology building, virtually via Handshake, or by contacting our Front Desk at 410-455-2216. Hope to see you soon!

Name: Olisa Okolo

Internship, Co-op, or Research Site: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Position Title: Data Analysis and Research Intern

Major or Program: Information Systems

Current Class Level: Senior

Work Term: Fall 2022

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities. 

I am using my skills in data analytics, python programming and data science to support one of the many missions of the NASA Jet propulsion Lab

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application? 

I heard about this position from UMBC faculty and my mentors Dr. Janeja and Dr. Karen Chen

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience? 

Student Organizations/Scholar Groups, Faculty Connections

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?  

I enjoy the scale of the data that I work with and how much of a challenge it is. I have grown in numerous ways as a data scientist 

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I have supported the team in ensuring the usability of the data analysis models.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

Be very aggressive in curating your online image. Put yourself out there. 

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