For the last 20 years, Lust has worked to change that mirror. Her adult entertainment studio is devoted to “sex-positive, indie adult cinema that portrays sexually intelligent narratives, relatable characters and realistic hot sex.”

Ethical Porn?

The Swedish-born, Barcelona-based has made her name as purveyor of ethical porn: Erotic cinema centered on the female experience, on start-to-finish consent, on liberated sexuality.

The threesome of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers;, Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora, screwball comedy about Brighton Beach sex workers.

Lust (real name Erika Hallqvist) began her career in showbiz as runner on commercials, driving talent and fetching drinks for people on set.

The Good Girl won award at Barcelona International Erotic Film Fest, and Lust seeks funding for sex-positive shorts.

Five Hot Stories for Her claimed prizes, including the Feminist Porn Award in Toronto. “I tried to make it about the female experience because that’s what porn was lacking.”

Some of Lust’s movies are educational, some artistic, some  commercial. But all are made to the highest ethical standards in their development, production and distribution.

Power Imbalance

“It’s also a huge help to have an intimacy coordinator because there will always be a certain power imbalance on a set.”

Only after decades of top actresses voicing their discomfort in filming intimate scenes without proper consent, and a #MeToo movement that shone a vital light on the abuse that can result from a too-casual, often male-dominated, set, has the job gone from punchline to budget line on any serious production.

Zendaya spoke about how “incredible” it was to have intimacy coordinator Mam Smith on the set of the steamy tennis drama. “It was important that we felt safe,” the star said.

“We’re in educational position,” says Smith. “Intimacy coordinator is an industry professional who ensures that scenes involving physical intimacy or hyper-exposure are executed safely and respectfully for all involved, the actors, crew, and whole production.”

Intimacy coordinators speak to the performers before, during, and after the intimate scene is shot to ensure there are no surprises. They lay out which body part will be going where, and check in to make sure the actors are comfortable.

Hollywood’s recent embrace of intimacy

Smith and Lust welcome Hollywood’s recent embrace of intimacy coordinators and the change in attitudes towards the profession.

HBO hit Game of Thrones, which dominated TV from 2011-2019 and contained many a sex scene, did not have intimacy coordinator.

In 2022, when GOT star Sean Bean (Ned Stark) said that intimacy coordinators “spoil the spontaneity” of a sex scene, he faced backlash.

HBO has now mandated intimacy coordinators on all their sets.

Ideally, “you wouldn’t be allowed to do an intimate scene or hyper-exposed scene without a trained professional there to support the actors and the production,” Smith argues.

“Creating safe environment on set is imperative to good performances. I think if a director isn’t aware of how intimacy coordinator can support them and create a comfortable environment for the actors, then they won’t understand how they can use intimacy coordinator as benefit to everyone involved.”

Oscar winner Kate Winslet told New York Times Magazine that she would have benefitted from intimacy coordinator “every single time I had to do love scene or be partially naked or even a kissing scene. It would have been nice to have had someone in my corner because I always had to stand up for myself.”

Lanthimos’ Oscar-winning Poor Things saw Oscar winner Emma Stone’s character discover joy for pleasure and venture into sex work, had intimacy coordinator.

Netflix’s Bridgerton filters Julia Quinn’s regency-era stories through lens that are erotically unrestrained.

Lust says: “There’s long way to go for male directors and producers to understand the value of intimacy coordinators.”

Hollywood Still Man’s World

A study from USC Annenberg and San Diego State Univ. found that 83 percent of 250 highest-grossing movies in 2023 were directed solely by men, and just 4 percent employed at least 10 women in key behind-the-scenes roles.

It is up to these male power brokers “to understand their own privilege, which many men are reluctant to understand because they don’t see it. If we can get more women and non-binary folks into this industry, they will use this power.”

Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, a series about abuse, consent, and sexuality, was a masterclass in portraying physically tough sex scenes. “There you have someone who is talking openly about the importance of intimacy coordinators, of the importance of telling traumatic, difficult scenes and situations and how they, together, built this.”

In her BAFTA acceptance speech in 2021, she dedicated the best mini-series award to the intimacy coordinator, Ita O’Brien.

While budgetary constraints remain an issue in hiring intimacy coordinators, a more serious problem is regulation.

“It’s a bit like the Wild West right now, where people are able to train or get certificates online and not have much background or experience,” she says. “Intimacy coordinators are trying to create strong standard of practice and training setup, so that there’s consistency and people can know what to expect.”

Smith was an advisor on Jorey Worb’s short film BITE, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Fest. BITE centers on a woman who is sexually assaulted by her dentist. The incident disrupts a bubble of peace that the character had built and forces her to confront past trauma.

Lust would like to see professional recognition for intimacy coordinators, including nominations for Oscars and Emmys.

“They just got casting included as category,” she notes, “How many years were people lobbying for that? It would be great to get recognition. For that to happen, we have to change the equality in this industry.”

Smith adds: “We have ways to go before we can be acknowledged because we just haven’t been standardized. In that sense, it’s going to take a while.”