Ita O’Brien is a British movement director and intimacy co-ordinator for film, TV and theatre. She has taught at some of Britain's leading drama schools, has published research and devises her own work. In 2017, O'Brien introduced the "Intimacy On Set Guidelines", to protect performers during scenes that involve sex or nudity, which gained significant industry and public interest in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandals.O'Brien, Ita. "Best practice when working with intimacy, simulated sex scenes, and nudity". Retrieved 10 May 2018. She has worked for Amazon, BBC, HBO,O'Brien, Ita. "Ita O'Brien Biography – Intimacy on Set". Retrieved 6 March 2019. and Netflix.
Early life and education O'Brien's family is from Clonmel, Ireland. She graduated in 1998 from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She also trained as a dancer at the Royal Academy of Dancing. In 2007, she received a master of arts in movement studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career Ita O'Brien pioneered the role of intimacy coordinator, which is gaining adoption in leading production houses, including HBO, Netflix, and the BBC. O'Brien has been developing practices when working with intimacy, scenes with sexual content and nudity in film, TV and theatre since 2014. In the absence of any industry-wide guidelines or accepted process, she developed draft guidelines for intimacy, simulated sex scenes and nudity.O'Brien, Ita. "Best practice when working with intimacy, simulated sex scenes, and nudity". Retrieved 6 March 2018. She is the founder of Intimacy on Set, her company set up in 2018, which provides services to TV, film and theatre when dealing with intimacy, sexual content, and nudity.
There was brief controversy when, on the BAFTA red carpet in 2018, Andy Serkis likened the idea of guidelines to censorship. However, O'Brien says, "These guidelines are not a constraint, but an improvement on current practice. They free the actor to embody the character whilst delivering repeatable and safe scenes that facilitate the Director's vision."
The guidelines have received the support of Women in Film and Television (UK) and leading industry figures, including Gemma Arterton, Noma Dumezweni, Olivia Colman, Joseph Millson and David Farr.
Her work has received press coverage,Women and Hollywood. "Ita O’Brien Is Transforming the Way Film, TV, and Theater Handle Sex Scenes". Retrieved 7 March 2019. particularly for Normal People,Kaufman, Amy. "This is how ‘Normal People’ made some of TV’s steamiest sex scenes". Retrieved 3 May 2020. Sex Education,Berning Sawa, Dale. "'Take care of your actors': the intimacy director keeping Netflix’s sex scenes safe". Retrieved 25 January 2019. and Gentleman Jack.Gordon, Naomi. "How Suranne Jones prepared for her lesbian sex scenes in Gentleman Jack". Retrieved 1 May 2019. She has been an advocate for the use of an intimacy coordinator in Australia,Groves, Don. "Call to introduce guidelines for intimacy on sets in Australia". Retrieved 6 March 2019. New Zealand,Standing Room Only. "Guidelines on getting intimate on stage and screen – Ita O'Brien". Retrieved 6 March 2019. Germany,Zwirner, Heiko. "Bei Sexszenen sind die Verletzungen oft nicht sichtbar". Retrieved 1 May 2019. Ireland, and UK.Radio Times. "What is an intimacy coordinator? Meet the woman who protects actors doing sex scenes in the #MeToo era". Retrieved 6 March 2019.
In 2021, upon receiving a BAFTA for Best Actress for I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel dedicated her award to O'Brien, saying "Thank you for your existence in our industry, for making the space safe, for creating physical, emotional and professional boundaries so that we can make work about exploitation, loss of respect, about abuse of power without being exploited or abused in the process". In all, O'Brien worked on six TV productions that were nominated for a BAFTA in 2021.
In 2022, O'Brien became the first intimacy coordinator to be employed by the Royal Opera House in a Katie Mitchell production of Theodora.
Film and TV Her credits include The Last Duel (2021), It's a Sin (2021), Normal People (2020), I May Destroy You (2020), Sex Education (2019), Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (2017), Derren Brown's Ghost Train (2017), series 2 of Humans (2016), The Girl With All The Gifts (2016) and many theatre productions.
References
External links Ita O'Brien's official website