Creating Safe and Authentic Performances with Intimacy Coordinator Marci Liroff
About this Advisor Studio
In Advisor Studio sessions, Sundance Collab Advisors share field experiences and insights into their specific areas of craft, including writing, directing and producing for TV and film.
In today’s entertainment industry, the need for creating a safe environment for both cast and crew while filming on-screen intimacy has never been more critical. In this Advisor Studio, we talk with Certified Intimacy Coordinator Marci Liroff about this crucial role.
Whether you’re a filmmaker, actor, producer, or another on-set professional, this conversation offers valuable insights into the role of an intimacy coordinator, navigating challenges and sensitivities while choreographing intimate scenes, how this collaboration aids in creating authentic and creative performances, and how to ensure safety and consent.
In this discussion, we explore the art and responsibility of creating meaningful connections on screen while upholding the highest standards of professionalism, respect, and creativity.
Advisor StudioTeam
Marci Liroff
Marci Liroff has been involved with filmmakers as a casting director, producer, and acting coach for the last 40+ years. Her extensive credits as a casting director span more than 60 films and several television series.
In 2019, Liroff completed an extensive training course with the premier Intimacy Coordinator, Amanda Blumenthal of Intimacy Professionals Association (IPA) and is a Certified Intimacy Coordinator.
Current credits range from indie films to TV series. She was the IC on the second and third seasons of the STARZ series, Hightown, and spent nine months on location working on the series.
Her casting experience is vast. While working at the renowned casting office of Fenton-Feinberg Casting she, along with Mike Fenton, cast such films as Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story and Porky’s; the Academy Award-nominated Poltergeist; Steven Spielberg’s E.T.– The Extra Terrestrial and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
After establishing her own casting company in 1983, MARCI LIROFF CASTING, Liroff cast several successful films including Footloose, St. Elmo’s Fire, Pretty in Pink, The Iron Giant, The Spitfire Grill, Untamed Heart, Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Vampire Academy, Magic Camp, and The Sublime and Beautiful, which she produced as well.
As an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, Liroff has supported the national group GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) which works to ensure that LGBTQIA+ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment. Liroff has coached their student ambassadors along with the president of the organization, Eliza Byard, for their yearly GLSEN event.
Liroff is a proud member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Teamsters 399, and The Casting Society of America, CSA, where she served on the Board of Governors.
Katherine Street
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging.
She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV.
Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create.
She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Yak Yak Mgmt.