In consultation with South Africa’s major bodies for industry workers and producers, new protocols have been compiled to handle intimate scenes in film and television shoots. Kate Lush, a co-creator of the new protocols, explained that the new guidelines are to provide guidance on how to make cast and crew safe, especially from sexual harassment and assault.
The guidelines encourage producers and directors to professionally look at intimate content, and spell out what considerations, consents and agreements that need to be put in place from pre-production, during production, and into post-production. Lush said they also talk about the right environment to hold auditions and what is the safest way to navigate scenes with intimacy, kissing, nudity, and simulated sex.
The new protocols were set after revelations of sexual abuse by Hollywood producers that led to the #MeToo movement. In South Africa, in 2017, the organization Sisters Working in Film and Television conducted and published a survey on sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault and violence in the South African film and TV industry. They followed this by creating the #ThatsNotOK campaign.
