Ita O'Brien on:
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Ita O’Brien is a British
movement director
A movement director creates physical vocabularies through actor movement in a variety of production settings that include theatre, television, film, opera, fashion and animation.
Background
Movement directors work closely with directors and ...
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
Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...
scandals.
She has worked for
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
,
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, and
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.
Early life and education
O'Brien's family is from Clonmel, Ireland.
She graduated in 1998 from the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre.
BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. I ...
. She also trained as a dancer at the
Royal Academy of Dancing
"Health and happiness"
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation = 1920
, extinction =
, type = NGO
, status = Registered charity
, purpose = Examination board – dance education and training
, headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3R ...
.
In 2007, she received a master of arts in movement studies from the
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
.
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. 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
Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Goll ...
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
Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' ...
,
Noma Dumezweni
Noma Dumezweni (born 28 July 1969) is a British actress. In 2006, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her performance as Ruth Younger in ''A Raisin in the Sun'' at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. In 2 ...
,
Olivia Colman
Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...
,
Joseph Millson
Joseph Millson (born 27 April 1974) is an English actor and singer. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, London.
Personal life
Millson married singer and actress Caroline Fitzgerald in the summer of 1999. The ...
and
David Farr.
Her work has received press coverage, particularly for ''
Normal People
''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...
'', ''
Sex Education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
'',
[Berning Sawa, Dale]
"'Take care of your actors': the intimacy director keeping Netflix’s sex scenes safe"
Retrieved 25 January 2019. and ''
Gentleman Jack''. She has been an advocate for the use of an
intimacy coordinator
An intimacy coordinator, sometimes called an intimacy director, is a member of a film or television crew who ensures the well-being of actors and actresses who participate in sex scenes or other intimate scenes in theater, film and television pro ...
in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland,
and UK.
In 2021, upon receiving a
BAFTA for Best Actress for ''
I May Destroy You
''I May Destroy You'' is a British black comedy-drama television limited series created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by Michaela Coel for BBC One and HBO. The series is set in London with a predominantly Black British cast. ...
'',
Michaela Coel
Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1 October 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British screenwriter and actress. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), for which she won ...
dedicated her award to Ita 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, Ita O'Brien became the first
intimacy coordinator
An intimacy coordinator, sometimes called an intimacy director, is a member of a film or television crew who ensures the well-being of actors and actresses who participate in sex scenes or other intimate scenes in theater, film and television pro ...
to be employed by the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
in a
Katie Mitchell
Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director.
Life and career
Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Mag ...
production of
Theodora
Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift".
Theodora may also refer to:
Historical figures known as Theodora
Byzantine empresses
* Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church
* Theodora o ...
.
Film and TV
Her credits include ''
The Last Duel'' (2021), ''
It's a Sin
"It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, ''Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's se ...
'' (2021), ''
Normal People
''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...
'' (2020), ''
I May Destroy You
''I May Destroy You'' is a British black comedy-drama television limited series created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by Michaela Coel for BBC One and HBO. The series is set in London with a predominantly Black British cast. ...
'' (2020), ''
Sex Education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
'' (2019), ''
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams'' (2017), ''
Derren Brown's Ghost Train
Ghost Train, previously Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon, is a dark ride at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England. The attraction incorporates motion simulation and illusion. It is set in a themed derelict Victorian railway depot. It first ...
'' (2017), series 2 of ''
Humans
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' (2016), ''
The Girl With All The Gifts
''The Girl with All the Gifts'' is a science-fiction novel by M. R. Carey, published in June 2014 by Orbit Books. It is based on his 2013 Edgar Award-nominated short story ''Iphigenia In Aulis'' and was written concurrently with the screenplay ...
'' (2016) and many theatre productions.
References
External links
Ita O'Brien's official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Ita
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Acting teachers
People from County Tipperary
Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama