IDC Boundary Setting & Advocacy 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A production company asks the IC to sign an NDA that would prevent disclosing boundary violations to union safety representatives. The IC should:
- Sign it to maintain a good working relationship with production
- Refuse, because NDAs cannot ethically restrict reporting of safety violations (Correct answer)
- Sign it and rely on anonymous reporting channels instead
- Accept if the NDA includes a carve-out for criminal acts only
Correct answer: Refuse, because NDAs cannot ethically restrict reporting of safety violations
NDAs that restrict reporting of workplace safety violations, including boundary violations on set, are ethically and often legally unenforceable, and the IC must refuse to sign them.
Question 2: Which strategy best helps a performer who has difficulty articulating their limits during a pre-scene meeting?
- Ask the director to simplify the scene to avoid the issue
- Use a structured prompt such as a body-mapping exercise or a pre-written checklist to help the performer identify and name their limits (Correct answer)
- Proceed without a defined boundary list and monitor the scene closely
- Reschedule the scene until the performer can articulate their limits verbally
Correct answer: Use a structured prompt such as a body-mapping exercise or a pre-written checklist to help the performer identify and name their limits
Structured tools like body maps or checklists give performers a concrete scaffold that makes it easier to identify and communicate limits without requiring articulate verbal expression.
Question 3: Under IDC guidelines, who bears ultimate responsibility for creating a safe set environment during intimacy scenes?
- The intimacy coordinator alone
- The performer, because they are the ones setting boundaries
- Shared responsibility across the IC, director, producer, and performers (Correct answer)
- The SAG-AFTRA safety representative
Correct answer: Shared responsibility across the IC, director, producer, and performers
IDC guidelines hold that set safety is a shared responsibility: the IC designs the framework, but directors, producers, and performers all play active roles in upholding it.
Question 4: When a performer changes their boundary limits on the morning of the shoot day compared to what was agreed in pre-production, the IC should:
- Use the pre-production agreement, as it was the official consent
- Honor the day-of limits as the current consent and update the choreography accordingly (Correct answer)
- Ask the director to decide which agreement takes precedence
- Remind the performer that changing limits creates production problems
Correct answer: Honor the day-of limits as the current consent and update the choreography accordingly
Consent is ongoing and revocable at any time; the most current statement of a performer's limits must always supersede any prior agreement.
Question 5: An IC is asked to work on a production with very short pre-production timelines, leaving little time for performer meetings. The best approach is to:
- Proceed without formal meetings and rely on on-set conversations
- Advocate for minimum required preparation time and adapt meeting formats to fit constraints while maintaining core consent protocols (Correct answer)
- Decline the project entirely since preparation time is insufficient
- Have the director conduct the boundary-setting conversations to save time
Correct answer: Advocate for minimum required preparation time and adapt meeting formats to fit constraints while maintaining core consent protocols
ICs should advocate for adequate preparation time while adapting formats such as shorter phone calls or written questionnaires to preserve the integrity of the consent process under tight timelines.
Question 6: What is the significance of the phrase 'no is a complete sentence' in intimacy coordination advocacy?
- Performers may refuse scenes without providing a reason, and no justification should be required or solicited (Correct answer)
- The IC must document every refusal with a full written explanation
- Directors may veto any choreography suggestion without explanation
- Performers should only refuse limits that are clearly articulated in writing
Correct answer: Performers may refuse scenes without providing a reason, and no justification should be required or solicited
The principle affirms that a performer's refusal is inherently valid and complete; demanding justification for a 'no' creates coercive pressure to explain or defend personal limits.
Question 7: An IC observes that a new performer seems unaware they have the right to stop or modify a scene at any time. The most appropriate action is to:
- Assume awareness and proceed to avoid patronizing the performer
- Proactively inform the performer of their right to pause, stop, or modify the scene at any point before filming begins (Correct answer)
- Brief the director to remind the cast of their rights before each take
- Provide a written handout but not raise the topic verbally to avoid alarming the performer
Correct answer: Proactively inform the performer of their right to pause, stop, or modify the scene at any point before filming begins
Proactively communicating performer rights before filming is a core IC responsibility, especially with newer performers who may not be familiar with on-set consent protocols.
IDC Boundary Setting & Advocacy 5
A production company asks the IC to sign an NDA that would prevent disclosing boundary violations to union safety representatives.
The IC should: