Blog

Every day, on sets around the world, children are asked to perform scenes of grief, violence, terror and loss. They are directed by adults, surrounded by crew, and expected to deliver emotionally raw performances - often without any specialist support mitigating the performances or cost of this experience. There are permits that govern their...

There is a particular vulnerability in being early to a role that hasn't yet settled into the industry's bones. For Tina Redman, stepping into intimacy coordination has felt less like claiming authority and more like learning to walk in a space where the floor is still being laid. They speak about the work with a careful candour—never grand, always...

There is a moment Carla Classen returns to often. She is younger, still studying, watching films with the double vision that actors rarely lose. On screen, characters kiss. Off screen, her mind lingers elsewhere. "How are people just fine?" she remembers wondering. Not about the story, but the bodies behind it. "How do you just know you're supposed...

In the evolving world of intimacy coordination, new voices are emerging with quiet confidence and deep care. South African-born, UK-based intimacy coordinator Hlamalani Georgina Graaff Makhubele, speaks with refreshing honesty about fear, trust, and finding her voice on set. In conversation with fellow intimacy coordinator Sara Blecher, she...

In the fast-evolving landscape of South African film and television, the welfare of young performers has become an increasingly urgent and complex issue. Productions now recognize that working with minors requires more than logistical compliance — it demands emotional intelligence, clear communication, and trauma-informed care.

In Johannesburg's fast-paced film industry, intimacy work is still carving out its place. For Mpolokeng, the role of intimacy coordinator emerged naturally from a background in theatre and a longstanding commitment to storytelling, care, and truth-telling. She speaks to Loren Loubser with a mix of candour and generosity, weaving stories from early...

Safeguarding children and young people on set is integral to ethical filmmaking. Safe Sets is launching its Young Performer Support Specialist (YPS) course. A YPS is an on-set professional focusing specifically on diffusing traumatic, difficult, sensitive and possibly harmful content for minor actors through imaginative play, acting coaching and...

Authentic, Open, Fun: Loren Loubser on the Craft of Intimacy Coordination. On South African film sets, the presence of an intimacy coordinator is still relatively new. The role is often misunderstood—sometimes seen as a box-ticking exercise, sometimes feared as an intrusion into the director's vision. Loren pushes back against that. An actor,...

On set, Samantha Murray's job is part science experiment, part tightrope act.

As an intimacy coordinator, she works in the space between safety and risk – where trust can turn choreography into something that feels like magic.

Maude Sandham on intimacy, improvisation, and making space on South African sets

The intimacy coordinator is usually a department of one. In Johannesburg, where productions move at breakneck speed and budgets stretch thin, that can mean juggling fire-fighting with cappuccino breaks, choreography with quiet resistance. For Maude Sandham, one of South...