The pilot of “Yellowjackets” contains a number of intimate scenes, together with one the place two excessive schoolers, performed by Sophie Nélisse and Jack Depew, have intercourse in a automobile, and one other the place a housewife, performed by Melanie Lynskey, masturbates. Having Ms. Steinrock on set for these scenes was very important, Ms. Kusama mentioned.

As a director, Ms. Kusama mentioned she has all the time felt a deep empathy with how weak actors are in these scenes and makes some extent to examine in. However even when she poses a query, it may be exhausting for an actor who’s uncomfortable to reply truthfully figuring out how a lot is on the road. An intimacy coordinator, as a impartial celebration, is extra prone to get an trustworthy reply.

“Societally, intercourse is actually exhausting to speak about,” Ms. Steinrock mentioned. Her function is to “create extra pathways of communication,” she defined, so the actors really feel protected discussing any points, huge or small, which will come up.

Having an intimacy coordinator doesn’t simply create a safer atmosphere, Ms. Kusama mentioned: It additionally makes for higher, sexier artwork.

“It calls for that you just take accountability on your story with the actors, that you just really say, Yeah, we’re depicting intercourse and right here’s what it must imply — i.e. it must imply one thing,” she mentioned. “And conversely, I can say to an intimacy coordinator, ‘You already know, it looks like I’m watching two individuals peck one another on the cheek, and there’s zero warmth right here.’”

That is the place the choreography piece of Ms. Steinrock’s job is available in: She will be able to provide methods to make use of breath or alter positions to make a scene extra evocative.