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Vanessa Coffey

Intimacy Coordinator | For Stage and Screen

Vanessa is a UK-based Intimacy Coordinator for screen and stage, with a background in corporate law. Originally from Sydney, Australia, she moved to Glasgow to retrain as an actor before working as a lecturer at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Vanessa experience across law, acting, movement directing, and lecturing means she has a unique set of skills to offer, enabling her to negotiate sympathetically between actors, directors, casting directors and crew.

During Vanessa’s career as an Intimacy Coordinator, she has worked across a wide range of theatre and screen productions, held courses and presentations in the UK and internationally, contributed to the Directors UK Guidelines: Directing Nudity and Simulated Sex, and founded the Intimacy Practitioners’ Guild (IPG) alongside fellow industry professionals.

Vanessa Coffey

How I work

Vanessa Coffey - How I work

Video Credit - Edinburgh TV Festival 2021

Projects

Vanessa Coffey Project - Vikings:Valhalla
Netflix / MGM Television

Vikings:Valhalla

Vanessa Coffey Project - House of the Dragon
Sky / HBO MAX

House of the Dragon

Vanessa Coffey Project - Outlander
Netflix / Sony Pictures Television

Outlander

Vanessa Coffey Project - The Buccaneers
Apple TV + / The Forge Entertainment

The Buccaneers

Press

8 May 2021

Intimacy coordinator Vanessa Coffey on her life behind the scenes

The lawyer-turned-actor says she “fell into” her line of work after being asked by former students (Coffey is also an acting lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) if she would cast an eye over their contracts and go on set to ensure that any agreed nudity clauses were adhered to.

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3 Mar 2021

The women behind Britain’s steamiest sex scenes

From bodice ripper Bridgerton to gay drama It’s A Sin — steamy love scenes have had as much air time as Boris and his boffins this past year.

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1 Feb 2021

No need for Dutch courage if intimacy is handled correctly

Intimacy co-ordinators are vital to ensure actors feel comfortable enough on set to give an authentic performance, says Vanessa Coffey

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29 Jan 2021

‘It was a misuse of power’: how screen sex scenes have been forced to change

As Keira Knightley says she won’t shoot one with a male director, the use of intimacy coordinators means that actors can be more comfortable with what they are asked to do

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22 Jan 2021

Lifting the covers on safe & authentic screen sex

TBI deputy editor Mark Layton talks to intimacy coordinator Vanessa Coffey about the emerging industry role that helps actors establish personal boundaries and deliver more authentic performances during scenes of a sexual nature.

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19 Nov 2021

Covid has halted on-screen sex – the industry needs to get creative or may lose intimate on-screen moments

Following the #MeToo movement in 2017, we started to see essential changes made to the way productions shot nudity or simulated sex, and a new role emerged.

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Contact Vanessa

Based in Glasgow, Scotland. Available throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

Please contact me at vcintimacy@gmail.com

For all PR enquiries please contact Premier PR:

vanessacoffey@premiercomms.com

Curtis Brown Agents:

adam.maskell@curtisbrown.co.uk