Young Performer Support Specialist: Training to Combat Abuse and Trauma on Set.
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 specific protocols for working with minors. Dr. Èmil Haarhoff talks in this blog about why this new role, sitting alongside Child Welfare Coordinators, Chaperones and Set Teachers is an essential addition to all film and television sets working with minors globally.
It is critical to remember that the actor is a child first and a performer second - everything must be done with this frame of mind.
CHILD ACTORS AND ABUSE: THE NEED FOR CHANGE
Using children in storytelling is a potent tool in the elevation of emotional resonance and authenticity. It is often through the perspective of children that the state of the world is revealed. As viewers, we easily connect with the innocent and our heartstrings are tugged by the vulnerable, allowing for riveting and emotionally charged entertainment. There is something endearing about the mischief in Home Alone and The Parent Trap, or the magic in August Rush that would never be possible with adult performers alone.
But (and we know "but" removes the power of the previous statement and emphasises the next) - child actors should never be collateral damage for our entertainment. I would like to highlight, bolden, italicise and underline the word "child". We so often focus on the "actor" bit, that we forget who the child is; that the child is a developing, vulnerable and growing human being, often with limitations to their sense of self, their decision-making processes, their understanding of consequence and, to put the cherry on top, a particular susceptibility to power dynamics.
Over the years, a wide variety of big names have stepped forward, speaking about how the entertainment industry abused this exact childhood vulnerability for profit. The heavy veil has started to be lifted on the misuse of power in the film industry, from the #MeToo movement that initiated the need for intimacy coordinators, to documentaries like Quiet on Set working to illuminate the"dark side of kids TV". Amongst others the United Nations have stated that "sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the entertainment industry must stop immediately", the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts lobbies for "the need for legal reform" in children's TV in accordance with others demanding "better laws, better enforcement".
Since the emergence of intimacy coordination as a profession, the responsibility for child on-set safety has increasingly fallen to intimacy coordinators – professionals trained to manage intimate scenes between adult performers, but not necessarily equipped with the specialised skill-set required to safeguard young people. Flagging content with children for possible hazardous risk, has often become the responsibility of the intimacy coordinator to mitigate.
Let's be clear about what we're saying: intimacy coordinators are trained in their discipline, and that discipline is valuable. But (let's shift focus with this "but"), their training doesn't encompass the developmental psychology, trauma recognition, or age-appropriate performance strategies that children need. When intimacy coordinators are asked to flag concerning content, recognise signs of distress, assess developmental readiness, and implement abuse prevention protocols for children, they're being asked to operate outside their professional scope. It's not their fault. It's a structural failure.
It is not about the abuse we quote, but the practical steps we put in place to make sure we have no abuse to mention in the future.
The result? Critical safeguarding responsibilities (the ones that should prevent abuse before it happens) may fall through the cracks or be inadequately managed by professionals stretched beyond their expertise. We've essentially asked intimacy coordinators to be child psychologists, safeguarding experts, and performance coaches all at once. That's not fair to them, and it's dangerous for the children.
What we, at Safe Sets, have begun to recognise is that we need a distinct new role: the Young Performer Support Specialist (YPS). The Young Performer Support Specialist is a professional trained specifically in child development, trauma-informed practice, performance coaching for young actors, and established protocols for recognising and responding to abuse indicators, not just in child "stars" but for every child who works on our sets (including the ones who go straight back to school or soccer practice the next day). This isn't about expanding intimacy coordination (although some ICs might make a great YPS), it's about recognising that children have different needs, vulnerabilities, and developmental stages that require dedicated expertise.
In response to this growing realisation, Safe Sets partnered with accomplished child-acting coach Tamryn Speirs to develop the role of the Young Performer Support Specialist. This role is nested in the foundation of intimacy coordination, seasoned with the pillars of performance play, and developed with care to facilitate a respectful, consensual and enriching experience for the child actor. The strategies that we have woven into the Young Performer Support Specialist role place specific focus on purposeful play, nourishing and drawing on the child's innate understanding and need for play.
For Safe Sets, the golden standard is to cradle the child actor's innocence and meet them at their specific point of development. We avoid hastening their understanding of life, and believe that each child, as a professional performer or first-timer on set, should be able to experience and explore the adventures of life at their own pace (that first kiss belongs to the butterflies in our stomachs, not a fake spin-the-bottle scene on set). The child's well-being should not be sacrificed in the service of the storyline and trauma should never be collateral damage for art. We aim for a safe, consensual, playful and uplifting creative experience that simultaneously aims to achieve the directorial vision for the scene.
We want to keep the minor safe while delivering the required performance.
Our goal is to have every child give us high-fives after a day on set and say, "That was so freaking cool!"
The official launch of the Young Performer Support Specialist role started in 2024, and after careful design, the first global training for Young Performer Support Specialists will start in February 2026 in London. Applications are currently open HERE.
We firmly believe that support is not only about the abuse we quote, but the practical steps we put in place to make sure we have no abuse to mention in the future. And our answer is practical and tested: Young Performer Support Specialist (YPS).
