NOLA Film Scene with Tj & Plaideau
A podcast about acting, filmmaking, and the improv scene in New Orleans.
NOLA Film Scene with Tj & Plaideau
Ashley Landrieau: Part 1 The Role Of An Intimacy Coordinator
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The most unforgettable moments on screen often ask the most from performers. Ashley Landrieu—actor, writer, director, stunt-trained performer, and intimacy coordinator—pulls back the curtain on how intimate and emotionally heavy scenes are designed with consent, clarity, and safety from day one. We walk through what the role actually covers, from simulated sex and nudity to panic attacks and high-stakes emotion, and why “film isn’t real but looks it” is the guiding principle that protects people while elevating the story.
https://www.ashleylandrieu.com/
Sponsored by Jana McCaffery Attorney at Law. Have you been injured? New Orleans based actor, Jana McCaffery, has been practicing law in Louisiana since 1999 focusing on personal injury since 2008. She takes helping others very seriously and, if you are a fellow member of the Louisiana film industry and have been injured, she is happy to offer you a free consultation and a reduced fee to handle your case from start to finish. She can be reached at Have you been injured? New Orleans based actor, Jana McCaffery, has been practicing law in Louisiana since 1999, specializing in personal injury since 2008. She takes helping others very seriously. If you have been injured, Jana is offering a free consultation AND a reduced fee for fellow members of the Lousiana film industry, and she will handle your case from start to finish. She can be reached at janamccaffery@gmail.com or 504-837-1234. Tell Her NOLA Film Scene sent you
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Hey y'all, my name is Ashley Landrieux. I am an actress. I'm an intimacy coordinator. I'm a writer. I've directed. I've trained in stunts. And I am ecstatic to be on the NOLA film scene.
SPEAKER_03:Ashley, wow, it's great to have you on. We really appreciate it. So we've got a pretty good bit to unpack with your skill set and things that you do. You and I have taken quite a few classes together with James Damont, and we have been tied to some of the same projects in your intimacy coordinator role, just not necessarily on set at the same time. So I think that's pretty cool. The stunt coordinator, intimacy coordinator, that stuff is really, really fascinating. So we'll we'll dig into some of those things and get your take on them.
SPEAKER_02:I can't wait to hear about it. But also, hi, welcome to the show. Let me get a word in edgewise, TJ. I know. How's that for a change? How about it, Brian? It's weird for me not to be able to talk.
SPEAKER_03:I'm like, he he stutter starts a couple times. So let's cover intimacy coordinator first. What is an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00:An intimacy coordinator is uh a newer position, newer onset who uh is in charge of coordinating intimate scenes. Intimacy is a huge range. It could be what your mind goes to, which is two people in a sex scene, or it could be something with someone just dealing with their emotions. What if someone has to have a panic attack in this in the scene? You don't just film it once, you film it multiple times and you have multiple tastes. And if that scene is very draining for a person or traumatic for a person, they have to be able to come out of that in a clear mind. The goal is for everyone to go home mentally and physically safe. It is a job at the end of the day. You should be able to lead it here on the set. If someone can come on and say, Look, they're done, they've done this enough times, it doesn't need to be done anymore. That can help the actor. Also, if the performer feels more comfortable in that intimate scene, they can perform better and they can tell the story even better than what they thought they could. And it really brings out the emotion, it brings out the story. So it's about making people feel comfortable in uncomfortable scenes.
SPEAKER_03:That that makes a lot of sense. Recently I did a play and I had a very, very emotional monologue. And after I would finish my monologue, I would go backstage and just break down and boo-hoo like a baby because all of the rest of the emotion dumped at that moment. And the some of the people standing around were like, uh we don't know what to do. And they just kind of stood there. My and I only was performing once a night, so it wasn't like I had to do it multiple times like you would filming. But my wife was backstage and she would just walk over and put her hand on my shoulder, and it kind of made it better, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and you know, I'll say this about live theater. Intimacy coordinators are for film, and intimacy directors are for live theater. Um, I've worked with Tennessee Williams Play Company. But you feeling that emotionally connected to the monologue is great. That's awesome. But that doesn't mean that you should be able to like you shouldn't have to take those emotions home with you. And crying about it because you felt that strongly about it is beautiful. But how do you how do you say, okay, cal like calm yourself down? That's enough. It's a separate thing. That was this character, this is me.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So kudos to you. Great job on the if it made you move, you moved to someone else.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you. So when is an intimacy coordinator mandatory versus when it might only be recommended?
SPEAKER_00:Mandatory is for any sex scenes or nudity. If a character or if an actor is gonna be nude, there has to be an intimacy coordinator. If there is going to be simulated sex, there's gotta be an intimacy coordinator. And the word of the day is simulated. It is all simulated. It is not real. I have to remind people that film is not real. We give people a script that says exactly what they're gonna say. There's a director who's gonna tell them what they're gonna do. There's a camera that's gonna make the audience see what they want them to see. So, same thing with intimate scenes, it's not real. So we have to leave it there, and we're not doing anything for real. Which there have been films where people had to stimulate manual simulation on themselves, and that's really uncomfortable. You shouldn't have to do that. You are at a job and you should be comfortable at your job. And I say this to people, especially to the lawyers in my family, I know a lot of lawyers in the United States of America, and I'll speak for the United States only. You are entitled to a harassment-free workplace. If I came to your work and I told you, if I was your boss and I said, Hey, I'm gonna have you and your coworker do these intimate acts together, and I'm gonna record it and I'm gonna get it from this angle, and I'm gonna tell you to stop, and then I'm gonna get it from this angle, you would look at me like I had 10 heads. So why don't we treat actors the same way? We're telling a story, but that doesn't mean that they need to be thrown in and just expected to do whatever we tell them to do. They are human beings, they are not chess pieces. So they have their say in boundaries, they they have their say in what they want seen. If they don't want a scar seen, they don't have to have it seen on the camera. That is their body, it is their choice, what is shown. Because it also lives forever. As we know, once you put something on the internet, once you put something on TV, it's there. There is no taking it down.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So you mentioned a sex scene or a simulated sex scene. If you have a male and a female on the scene, do you have only one intimacy coordinator that is helping both actors, or is there one for each actor? Or how does that work?
SPEAKER_00:Normally it's one person. There's one intimacy coordinator for the film, typically, uh, especially if it's just a scene between two individuals. Now, there are group scenes that intimacy coordinators had to work together. Sometimes they'll ask for an assistant. I know someone I have not worked on a group scene. It is on my bucket list. I really want to, but I went to a conference and the person who was speaking coordinated a scene with 50 people in it. 50 people doing simulated sex. Crazy. I'm like, how did you do that? And she showed us her pictures that she drew, and it looked like it looked like football plays. She had like X's and O's, like, this is one couple, this is someone else, this is another group. It was just like X's and O's, and just little stick figure drawings of what she could come up with her head.
SPEAKER_02:That's very cool. And what men might not think about that it helps us too. And what I mean is I did a class, so it wasn't even a simulated sex. I was just the creepy boss. And usually in our audition type classes, it's like this. We're just facing the camera and we're not interacting with the person. And that's how this class had been. Well, when we showed up, they're like, Oh, you're gonna do your own blocking, it's gonna be like a scene. It's like, okay. And as I'm looking at it, there was a scene. If I step in and got right behind her, put my hand on her shoulder, and drop my voice. And you're gonna do this now. You know what I mean? I thought that was a would help the scene, but I didn't know, I I didn't want to just go boom in the scene. But we couldn't really talk during the class. So I just, are you okay with me? I don't want to hear what you're doing. I said, just no, I'm not touching anything vital, but I'm gonna touch your shoulder. She's like, fine. So having that permission to let me relax and be in the character to be as creepy as possible, because I don't want to be that in real life, you know, correct.
SPEAKER_00:And talking about that consent with some people don't want to be touched, they just don't. And that's totally fine. And people should be able to say if they don't want to be touched. So, I mean, being able to ask someone, hey, is it okay if I do this? Some people just want to go complete improv. And if people are okay with that, great. That's awesome. Of course, there are places that we aren't we know, or you should know, that you're not gonna touch someone. But sometimes people have they don't want to be touched in places, and I'll use hair as an example. Some people feel like they can just touch someone's hair, and other people are like, why would you touch someone's hair? So to be able to say, Hey, is it okay if I touch you on the shoulder? But you would rather ask than not ask, and then it come off as weird, like, oh, he did that. Like, no, that's not what it is. We're in a scene. Again, we're working, we're playing, it's not real life. So being able to ask for consent is huge.
SPEAKER_02:Like just an improv class, you never take your clothes off in an improv scene. But if I go, I'm gonna get naked, I mime, yeah, and a mime that I'm taking my clothes off. Well, I did a scene, it was in a class, and I may have assigned it, I don't remember, but I was the owner of the strip club and she was the stripper. And so I was like, take your clothes off. She's like, Oh, and then she pulled an imaginary plant in front of her and I pulled it. No, no, you got to show it. Well, I'm thinking we're all clothed and you know, everything's fine, but that made her very uncomfortable. So even that is not fair to her, right? You know, so if I had known that beforehand or realized it, I didn't pick up on the cues because of course the character was nervous because I'm the sleazy. I'm a lot of sleazy characters, I just realized I'm the sleazy club owner. So you have to be aware of that too. And not like a not like a handicap, not like your your arms are being tied, like, oh, I gotta avoid the Me Too movement. No, it's just so everybody can play and everybody can work together to make the story better while not getting into something that's gonna hurt the person or get laws, you know, get me in jail.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Right. Our class talked about it. We we all we stood in a circle and we all said what we're comfortable touching or having touched. And it worked out. I mean, as far as I know, nobody was made uncomfortable. We were careful about it.
SPEAKER_00:So I will say we do that when I'm working and I've done this in theater and I've done this in film. I will get the performers together. If it's on stage, it's usually just on stage right there. But if it's a film, especially a film that I worked on that was a vertical film, and these were intense scenes, I had them come together in a separate room and said, look, we're gonna go over boundaries. And I had the actors face each other. And I said, I want you to go from the top of your head all the way down to your toes and say, what is okay to touch and what is not okay. And I went first. I said, Top of my head is okay to touch. You can touch my hair, you can touch my forehead, my face is okay, my lips are fine, my neck is okay, my upper chest is fine, not my breast, my stomach is fine, my arms are fine, and went all the way down to my toes of what is okay and what's not okay. And then I'll have the other person do. It's like, okay, we have both just communicated to each other what is okay and what is not. And if you actually, if I had said that my arm, I don't want my arm touched. One, I don't have to give a reason. You don't need a reason. You can just say I don't want my arm touched. Fine by me. It's if you accidentally touched my arm, just let's say, hey, I don't want my arm touched. Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot. Forgive and move on. Most of the time, people are not trying to hurt one another.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's an accident.
SPEAKER_03:Sure.
SPEAKER_00:So it's important to say those boundaries. So it's like, okay, we know this, but if an accident happens, let's say I'm sorry, move on, and let's just keep going.
SPEAKER_03:That's a really good approach. With your certification, I understand that it took quite a while to go through all that, right? Didn't it? Didn't you work on that for a while?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. So I trained with intimacy coordinators and directors, IDC. Uh, I did, it took me about three years to do this. It's a new program. They are fixing some things within it. And originally you had to go through levels one, two, and three, apply for in-person training, and then you would go, but they only accepted 10 people at the time. I got to the interview phase, didn't they get further. They revamped their program, put more things online, which was most of the things that I had already done, which was nice, and I got a refresher. And then you could apply to do the in-person training, and they took significantly more people. So I was, I went to Minnesota and I was in a group of about 25 other intimacy coordinators from around the world. I'm not exaggerating at all. We had people from California, New York. I'm the I was the only person from South. We had friends from Greece, Italy, Turkey. Our friend in Turkey is the very first intimacy coordinator in Turkey, which is really cool. Uh, friends in England and Ireland. Our friend in Ireland was a costumer on Game of Thrones, which is really cool. So just so many people with so much more experience than me. I got to learn, I got to learn a lot. It was a lot of fun. It was very tiring. It was a very long week.
SPEAKER_03:Very cool. Is it predominantly women that are intimacy coordinators? Are there men that do it as well?
SPEAKER_00:I have found that intimacy coordinators tend to be more women or female presenting, but that doesn't mean that men or male presenting can't be intimacy coordinators. There are definitely there needs to be some. Just like stunt coordinators, most stunt coordinators are men. That doesn't mean that women can't. There should definitely be, that doesn't mean that women can't. There should definitely be more women stunt coordinators or female presenting stunt coordinators. Same thing with intimacy. Everyone experiences intimacy. So there should be intimacy coordinators of all different shapes and sizes and genders and everything.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So what made you decide to become an intimacy coordinator?
SPEAKER_00:I was scrolling on TikTok when I saw this for the first time. And it's something that I was always curious about because I, from watching so many films and making films with friends, it's something that I wanted to know how to do. Because, like stunts, you need someone who knows what they're doing to be able to coordinate that scene. So I believed that most stunt coordinators were in charge of intimate scenes. So I was really more curious about how they did it. And I started going through what it takes to become an intimacy coordinator. And I was just really interested in the topic and making it look real. Because if you if you're in a people who have been in a real fist fight, it doesn't look the same as doing a fist fight on camera. There are angles, there are, you're not actually hitting someone. That's a big thing. You're not actually hitting someone when you're stunt fighting. Whereas if you're real fighting, you know, you're hitting someone. Same thing with film. I know in real life, people are actually doing things, but on film they can't. So how are they doing that? I just loved researching and watching films and trying to catch those moments that you could see a barrier. So I wanted to figure it out. I wanted to figure out the magic.
SPEAKER_03:Should we be thinking about using an intimacy coordinator for these low budget, you know, non-union projects, or just do like Brian said, and have the conversation beforehand and make sure we know what we're comfortable with?
SPEAKER_00:I would absolutely suggest if you have an intimate scene, I would say have an intimacy coordinator. Now, the problem is with low budget films, if they want, I'm pretty sure, and I could be wrong on this, but low budget SAG films or ultra low, I think it's against the contract to have intimate scenes because they don't have a budget for an intimacy coordinator. Now, if there are more people who are learning, maybe, or how learning how to be an intimacy coordinator, maybe that would go away. But from what I understand, low-budget films aren't supposed to because they can't pay for an intimacy coordinator and guarantee that everyone's going to be safe now. If you're not gonna follow the rules and you're trying to film something, I would highly, highly, highly, highly, highly suggest having an intimacy coordinator. And from the beginning, in any project, if there's something intimate, there should be an intimacy coordinator from the beginning. So they can look at the script too and say, hey, you don't just have one intimacy, you have a bunch more that can all play a part of the story and build your story. But again, it's about the I think it's about the budget, honestly. You want to make sure that intimacy coordinator can be paid, but you want to make sure that people can be safe. And what is the point of the intimacy within the film? You know, I just I if anything, your question makes me have 20 more questions to ask about it. And I would want to help just to make sure that people are filming and it's I want intimacy coordinators to become more in the practice and not a second thought. I want that to be a first thought for anyone. So I'm happy to help people who need an intimacy coordinator, even if they don't have a large budget. If you're gonna do it, which it sounds like people are gonna do it, let's do it correctly. Let's make sure people are safe and there is someone there who can speak for them and they don't feel like they're, oh, I'm gonna make them upset if I don't do this, and then have them be uncomfortable because then that just opens so many doors for issues and potential trauma.
SPEAKER_03:Right. And so does the intimacy coordinator have to be officially certified like you are, or can it be somebody that was going through training like you did for three years?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. And I I did my training, the in-person training was was a certificate intensive, and I am certificate pending. For me to get my final certificate, I need 10 days on set as an intimacy coordinator. So I have one thing booked in October, I'm looking for other projects. But see, that I think it I think it depends because there I know intimacy coordinators who are not stacked, but they were grandfathered in or grandmothered in, I should say, because they worked for so long and did these types of scenes that they already know how to do it. There's not there's not a definite book on how to do this. I hope that answers your question.
SPEAKER_03:It does. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, maybe maybe you need to write the book on it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we need a lot of help with that. Oh, there's so many things that could go in that book. My lord.
SPEAKER_02:I know I know at least one more intimacy coordinator who I could put you in contact with. You know, Devin McNair.
SPEAKER_00:I know Devin. I talked to her the other day, actually.
SPEAKER_02:She's so sweet. I met her when I took my theatrical combat class. So they did a QA, they brought her in, and she talked about the stunts. She used to be a wrestler and intimacy coordination. So hello, you already know her, I can't help you.
SPEAKER_00:But she's a very knowledgeable person about the film world and stunts and intimacy. So I hope I hope to work more with her in the future. That's just me.
SPEAKER_02:Me too, but I want to work with everybody except for TJ. I've had enough. Not only talking about SAG low budgets, and then you have non-union, which can be even less, could be more. They just don't want to deal with the union. But then there are things like we do the 48-hour film, and we do independent films for no money with our friends. And I have an example of one, I won't say what it was. I don't work with this person anymore, and I don't even think they in our little circle of the industry, but in that film, he was the lead actor, and the lead actress was willing to do a sex scene. But it was supposed to be crude, but a room full of people, and they met at a hotel and he was the only one there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:See, it's it's like crazy.
SPEAKER_02:That's terrible.
SPEAKER_00:Where it's like, yeah, hmm, that's that's why they don't want non-union or super, super indie film that you're just making with people, because I pray that it didn't go any further than that. I hope that that person is okay. But that that is not the first time that I've heard that. That's terrifying. You again, it's a job. You're signing up to do a job, and no one should be trying to take advantage of you for doing the job. Oh gosh, yeah, that that's terrifying.
SPEAKER_02:I've also heard kind of horror stories from being a background person. The ladies' different movies would come to me, one of them is my friend, and she had three different guys. One might have been a stalker, one was uh socially inept, so didn't pick up on cues, and one guy was just weird, maybe in between. And so she'd come and we'd talk, we're sitting in holding with a chair, and and he had done this on other sets, the real bad one. Even though she was married, he'd still talk to her, like, hey, baby, you know. So I'm playing with my phone, we're waiting, and she goes, Here he comes. And I go, What do you mean, darling? Or something like that to say this is my woman. And he went, Oh, which is still weird because she's already married, you know. And other ladies would be shooting a pool scene, not swimming, playing pool. So they're bent over, and there were different guys who would come up and bump them with their hips. So even in background, stupid, I can't even stress the word strong enough, evil shit was happening. Yeah, you know, God forbid the dance scene when people are rubbing up on each other. Not only is the world now you have to have consent, but just what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's also just a reminder on film sets, background people are not chess pieces. You are human beings with feelings and emotions, and you're at a job. No one should be making you feel uncomfortable. If you do feel uncomfortable, tell that person. If there is an intimacy coordinator, you can ask them. Now, I will say an intimacy coordinator is not HR, but there's not really HR on set. So definitely try and talk to that person and say that's not okay. Don't be silent about it. Tell them if it happens again, tell someone else, talk to a PA, talk to an AD. If there is an intimacy coordinator, ask them. An intimacy coordinator is not gonna mind trying to disrupt harmful behavior because that is harmful behavior. It makes the set uncomfortable for people. No one wants to be uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable feeling to be uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_02:Right. I do know on that set an incident had happened the day before the one I just described with a totally different person, and they went to an AD and that person was thrown off the set immediately. Good.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:So there are protections in place, and we just have to hope that, especially ladies, guys, it would probably be different, but there are instances of that will have to stand up a little bit for themselves or get someone to help stand up with them.
SPEAKER_00:Right, but also at the end of the day, no one should have to stand up for themselves.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Why can't people be kind to their coworkers? You are co-workers, that is what you are. I mean, just be nice to people and respect each other. It all comes down to respect. Just because you see something that you like doesn't mean you have to touch it or them. Yes, it's restraint. We deal with it or restraint.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, nobody owes you anything. And I know this is a work scene, but if a lady buys you dinner, she doesn't owe you anything, guys, which should be just common sense.
SPEAKER_00:But common sense ain't that common.
SPEAKER_02:If common sense were common, it would just be called sense.
SPEAKER_00:Correct. Correct. You know, I will say there is a lot of harmful behavior that can be on set, but when you have a scene, and I I tend to find when it's more of a serious subject, people tend to be more way more respectful, which is great. I worked on a film that's not out yet, but it was uh an attempt sexual assault scene. So there was a little bit of stunts and a little bit of intimacy. I think you had this guy slammed this girl on the table. He brings his hand up her leg. I mean, that's a hard scene to film. And she's screaming, he's screaming back at her. But these two actors were phenomenal. They talked to each other. I talked with them. They were very comfortable. They were very respectful. And the scene, I started crying. It was very moving. It was great. But sometimes those scenes can have both in them. And I tend when they do have fine, when they do have both in them, the actors who are portraying those characters are very, very, very respectful. It's more of a comedy scene where people are like, oh, it's a joke. We're playing. It's like, okay, we still have to have the same amount of respect, whether the scene is really intense or supposed to be really funny. We still need that same amount of respect.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right. Yeah. And that really should be discussed before you even sign a contract, probably before audition. This will require nudity. This is the what the role is.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. If you have an intimacy coordinator, you should have them in the beginning of the process, in the beginning, before casting. And I say before casting because if you have a film and you say it is important for this film, for this person to be topless in this scene and for these people to do this intimate act. That's fine. Let's do it. I am not the prude police. Intimacy coordinators are not prude police. We want to help you as much as possible. But we're not just going to spring that on people. It's going to, it has to be in the casting notice. You have to be okay with this. We need to cover those bases before, because you don't want to come on set and then that person revoke their consent last minute. And then you're like, you either have to completely change the scene or you have to find another actor. Well, why are we even in that situation? Let's get it right the first time. Know who we're casting, make sure that they're okay with it. Then we have contracts that are called writers, nudity writers or sex writers that they sign, which has their boundaries, the definitions, and basically what they're agreeing to and what the scene is. And then there are additional rules to those contracts. You, if you're in a scene and you have signed a writer and you've done the take a couple of times and you're like, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm done. You are absolutely allowed to say that and be done. But you can't take back the footage that has already been filmed. And then if they want to have a body double, that body double who is replacing your body in that scene gets the same exact contract that you signed. It is your body that is being portrayed. So it is your contract that they have to sign. They don't get to do anything extra in that scene. If a person's chest was covered and they're like, I didn't want my chest seen, and they're like, oh, well, I'm okay with that. Good for them. That's wonderful. But they're following that same contract. No if, ands, or buts. And contracts are not just for the actors. I will say this. It is also for the protection of the director and the producers. If you sign a contract that says, for example, I don't want my right arm seen, you sign that contract. The production company signs that contract. You have an agreement that says that this arm will not be seen. And the definition says from the tip of the elbow to the fingertips. That is the agreement. If the production company goes against that contract and shows this arm, you as the actor can sue the production company. No one wants to be sued. The contracts are to protect the performers and the production company, directors, and everyone involved. This is supposed to be a blanket covering. That's why you want to have someone in the beginning. No one wants legal battles. It's not fun. It costs money. Don't do that. Get your ducks in the line beforehand. Get an intimacy coordinator if you think you need one. Get everything you need. Make sure the actors know what they're doing, what they're being cast for, what the scene is, so that they can make that decision because that's their decision. You can't make them do that. So sorry.
SPEAKER_03:Makes sense.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, Ashley, you've given us a lot to think about. All good stuff, but it's a lot. So let's end the episode here. But we're going to come back with a part two so we can talk about all your stunt work and maybe your acting and writing too.
SPEAKER_03:Ashley, thanks for joining us. This was a great conversation. Very, very interesting stuff. I can't wait to see you for part two to talk about being a stunt player. Thanks again. We'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Come back for part two.
