Recently #metoo movement has raised awareness of issues related to intimate scenes in films and theatre. A new profession has emerged in this field, intimacy coordinators. What do they do, and why is their work important? How is the film industry changing in relation to intimate scenes? What does this all mean from an actor’s perspective?

We invited Lyndsay Duthie, CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain, intimacy coordinators Pia Rickman and Enric Ortuño, and the award-winning Finnish actor Mimosa Willamo on 11th of November to discuss this topic.

Speakers: 

Professor Lyndsay Duthie is the CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain, at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden UK. She is an award-winning film and television expert with over 20 years experience in the media industry.

Mimosa Willamo is an award-winning Finnish actor. Her work includes Bodom, the Netflix series Deadwind and Aurora, for which she was awarded the Finnish Film Academy’s Best Actress award in 2020.

Pia Rickman is an intimacy coordinator based in London and Helsinki. Her current position as a lecturer of acting combined with the strong production background, gives Pia a unique angle on intimacy coordination both within education and the industry. Pia is a co-founder of Nordic Intimacy Coordinators (NIC) and a co-founder of the Intimacy Practitioners Guild EU/UK.

Enric Ortuño is an intimacy coordinator and intimacy, fight and movement director for theatre and a certified stage combat teacher. He is a resident teacher at Italia Conti Acting School and teaches regularly at RADA, Central School of Speech and Drama, Drama Studio London and has taught workshops in Spain, USA, Canada and Germany.

Present is a series of Zoom discussions by The Finnish Institute. The conversations are documented by business illustrator Virpi Oinonen. Read more about the series here.