Nudity and simulated sex often have an important role in the telling of a story, whether in the film, television or interactive world. Although performances in these scenes convey strong feelings and powerful emotions to an audience which can be integral to a storyline, there is a unique vulnerability that arises for performers when performing hyper-exposed work.
Join NYWIFT for a candid conversation with Intimacy Directors/Coordinators on the importance of their roles on film sets. An intimacy director or coordinator is a choreographer, an advocate for actors, and a liaison between actors and production for scenes that involve nudity / hyper-exposed work, simulated sex acts, and/or intimate physical contact.
Speakers included will be Rocío Mendez (Award Winning Actor, Fight and Intimacy director), Teniece Divya Johnson (Intimacy Coordinator and SAG Stunt Performer), and Alicia Rodis (Intimacy Director and Coordinator). Moderated by NYWIFT Board Member Zenaida Mendez.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 2024
TIME: 4:00pm ET
LOCATION: Virtual Webinar (Zoom link will be sent with confirmation email)
PRICE: Free to attend
Panelists:
Teniece Divya Johnson (they/them) is an Intimacy Director, Fight Director, Stunt Performer, and Movement Storyteller working across television, film and stage. The first Black and first non-binary intimacy director on Broadway with Slave Play and first Black intimacy coordinator working on TV/Film, Teniece serves as a resolute advocate for a decolonized collaborative approach to art, Black intimacy, Kink and Queer representation. They are also the founder of www.BlackIntimacyConsentCollective.org a community based educational organization around Black intimacy, consent and wellness.
Additional credits: Succession, Pose, Ramy, Hunters, The Underground Railroad, West Side Story, MJ the Musical, Richard III and RAQI on Ghost Power Book II. In addition to working as an industry leader in the field of entertainment, they engage colleges, universities, corporations and other organizations to promote healthy community practices around consent, boundaries and empathy.
Rocío Mendez is an award-winning Actor, Fight, and Intimacy Director and a proud New Yorker committed to building confidence in brown and black girls through storytelling. Rocio has done multiple independent films showcasing their talents in martial arts and comedy. Rocio has worked on Broadway and with a range of theaters including The Metropolitan Opera,T he Public Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and Classical Theater of Harlem, among the many. Rocio has been nominated for multiple awards for their work in Fight Choreography and Movement. Rocio is a team member of UNKLE DAVE’S FIGHT HOUSE – a collective of fight/intimacy/movement directors serving theater, film and educational institutions. www.rociomendez.com
Alicia Rodis pioneered the role of intimacy coordinator in the United States. She serves as the in-house intimacy coordinator for HBO/HBO Max studios, consulting on their policies and protocols as well as training and vetting the IC’s working on HBO sets. She is the creative director for Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) which specializes in training performers and industry professionals to better approach intimate scenes, as well as trains and certifies intimacy coordinators for film and intimacy directors and choreographers for theatre. Alicia is also a long time fight director and actor, specializing in movement, choreography, and staged violence. Alicia has intimacy coordinated on productions such as The Deuce (S2, S3), Watchmen, Plot Against America, High Maintenance (S4), I Know This Much Is True, Succession, Mare of Easttown, And Just Like That, and Pretty Little Liars.
NYWIFT Board Member Zenaida Mendez (Moderator) has been awarded the 2022 prestigious Jewell Ryan White Award for Cultural Diversity from the Alliance of Community Media. This annual award is given to persons who show an outstanding contribution to a process that encourages, facilitates, or creates culturally diverse and/or non-mainstream community involvement in the field of community media. Mendez holds the esteemed position of Director of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center. Mendez has an intensive career in public service, community activism, television production, and filmmaking. As a social justice activist, she is an avid voice for tolerance and has many years of experience working as an advocate for women’s and LGBTQI+ rights, as well as economic, racial, and environmental justice. She also develops dynamic event-based programming initiatives, including developing partnerships with local nonprofits and community groups. She is currently Executive Producer of the monthly facilitated MNN Productions: Both Sides of the Bars, Radical Imagination, Critica, NY, Punto de Vista, Makilala TV the only National Filipino-American TV Program, Femenismo Global with former NYC Councilwoman Margarita Lopez, Health Action TV with Former Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Forward Together: Bishop William J. Barber II and the Poor People’s Campaign. As a filmmaker, Mendez collaborated on the film Coffee and a Donut the 2019 Best Short Film by the Independence Latino Film Festival NYC, Int’l Indie Works (Audience Choice Award); SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Short Film Showcase, and Dominican Film Festival showcase. She is Co-Producer of Clandestiny, the Artemis Award-winner Women in Action Film.
This program will take place virtually as a webinar via Zoom. Please register in advance, and all registrants will receive a link to attend the webinar the day of the event.
We encourage you to download Zoom in advance.
Free event.
programs@nywift.org
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NYWIFT programs, screenings and events are supported, in part, by grants from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
