Time's Up Reveals Safety Guide for Entertainment Industry Employees

The three-part resource covers auditions and nude, intimate and simulated sex scenes and also details how to report sexual misconduct and harassment.

A little over two years after individuals in the entertainment industry launched the Time's Up Foundation to end inequity in the workplace, the organization is unveiling an educational resource for Hollywood to promote worker safety.

On Friday Time's Up Entertainment debuted the Time's Up Guide to Working in Entertainment, a three-part resource that covers areas where, the foundation says, Hollywood employees have historically been exploited or harassed and offers solutions for issues that arise. Experiences covered in the guide include auditions and nude, intimate and simulated sex scenes; the guide also features a volume on how to report sexual misconduct and harassment.

"If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. If it seems like a red flag, it probably is. It’s okay to say 'no,' to speak up, and to leave situations that make you uncomfortable. No role, job, or relationship is worth compromising your physical or emotional safety," an introduction to the guide reads.

According to the foundation, the guide stems from months of consultation with actors, filmmakers, production crew, union workers, attorneys and organizations. The impetus for the guide came from actresses who wanted to put a guide for handling workplace dangers and misconduct down in writing for colleagues in the industry.

One volume of the guide, titled "Your Rights in Nude, Intimate and Sex Scenes," details performers' rights under the law and under SAG-AFTRA, if they are a member. Other topics include how to establish and maintain boundaries, using a nudity rider and intimacy coordinators and a performer's right to change their mind regarding these scenes.

"Your Rights in Auditions," meanwhile, discusses protections under the law and under SAG-AFTRA, how to change a location for an audition if it makes a performer uncomfortable, how to navigate chemistry reads, kissing and nudity during auditions and how to identify and respond to sexual harassment, discrimination and/or retaliation in auditions.

The final volume, "Your Right to Report Sexual Misconduct and Harassment," covers whether and how to report such incidents to an employer, a union or state or federal authorities and offers other resources to reach out to regarding such conduct.

Individuals can download the guide at this link or access the resource by texting SAFESETS to 306-44. The foundation also says it welcomes feedback on the guide, which can be provided by contacting hello@timesupnow.org.