The SAG-AFTRA Intimacy Coordinators Agreement establishes a uniform pay structure for a role that had previously been handled through individually negotiated terms. For production teams, payroll professionals, and labor relations specialists, the agreement converts crewing decisions, schedules, and timecards into defined wage obligations that must be calculated and paid correctly.

This overview is designed as a practical reference to the provisions that most directly affect how Intimacy Coordinators are paid and is not intended to replace legal advice. It focuses on coverage, the effective date, minimum compensation, overtime, meal-period requirements, and holiday pay. These are the provisions that drive budgeting, deal structure, payroll processing, and compliance.

Covered Productions

Coverage is determined by the start date of principal photography, the production type, the signatory status of the employer, and the job classification being performed.

The agreement applies when principal photography begins on or after February 22, 2026 for:

• Scripted theatrical motion pictures
• Scripted one-time television programs
• High-budget SVOD and AVOD productions
• New seasons of scripted episodic (excluding serials)
• Scripted multi-part closed-end series

For scripted new media projects that do not meet the high-budget threshold:

• Pension & Health contributions are required
• All other terms are individually negotiated

Coverage is triggered by the start of principal photography, not by the hire date or the timing of prep work.

Effective Date and Contract Continuity

All terms became enforceable on February 22, 2026.

Wage and PH&W increases follow the same bargaining cycle as the SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreement and Television Agreement, and the agreement remains in effect until terminated with proper notice. Minimum rates, overtime rules, and benefit obligations continue to apply during bargaining periods without interruption.

Minimum Compensation and Guarantees

Minimum scale is:

• $1,175 per day for an eight-hour guaranteed day
• $4,113 per week for a forty-hour guaranteed week

Daily engagements:

• An eight-hour guarantee is created when the Intimacy Coordinator is required to report to set for rehearsal or shooting
• Authorized prep on a separate day is paid for actual time worked
• Prep on a separate day does not trigger the eight-hour guarantee

Weekly engagements:

• One forty-hour guarantee consisting of five consecutive workdays
• Two designated days off
• Required work outside the guaranteed week is paid as an additional day
• Reporting to set outside the guaranteed week creates an eight-hour minimum

Payroll week and pay day:

• Payroll week runs Sunday through Saturday
• Regular pay day is Thursday for local employment
• Regular pay day is Friday for overnight locations
• Late payment on undisputed wages triggers the contractual penalty structure

Overtime Provisions

Overtime is calculated from the hourly equivalent of the negotiated rate.

Premium thresholds:

• 1.5x after 8 hours in a day
• 1.5x after 40 hours in a week
• 2x after 12 hours in a day
• 2x after 60 hours in a week

If the negotiated rate is at least two times scale:

• All overtime is paid at time and one-half
• Double time does not apply

Additional premium rules:

• Overtime is calculated in six-minute increments
• All hours worked on a recognized holiday are paid at 2x

Meal-Period Requirements

Meal periods:

• Are not counted as work time
• Must be at least 30 minutes
• Must begin within six hours of call

Subsequent meals:

• Must begin within six hours of the end of the prior meal

Timing provisions:

• A 12-minute grace period applies
• A shot in progress may be completed without a violation

Meal penalties:

• $25 for each 30-minute period or fraction when the meal is late and the Intimacy Coordinator is required to remain at work

Nondeductible meals:

• Minimum 15 minutes
• Provided within the first two hours of the day
• Must fully relieve the individual of duties
• Reset the six-hour meal clock

Recognized Holidays and Holiday Pay

The agreement designates the following holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Presidents’ Day
• Good Friday
• Memorial Day
• Juneteenth
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• The Friday after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

Holiday worked provisions:

• All hours worked on a recognized holiday are paid at double time
• The double-time premium replaces straight-time and time-and-one-half calculations for those hours
• The premium applies regardless of whether the Intimacy Coordinator is engaged on a daily or weekly basis

For more information and to access the agreement, visit the SAG-AFTRA website.

Learning to Apply the Agreement in Real Production

From Contract Language to Production Decisions

Reading the agreement and applying it on an active show are two different skills. On a real production, the pay outcome is determined long before payroll processes a timecard. The moment coverage is confirmed, the deal structure begins to shape guarantees and overtime exposure. When the shooting schedule is built, meal timing and holiday work become financial obligations. By the time payroll closes, most of the pay has already been determined by earlier production decisions.

This is why understanding the agreement as a workflow is critical. The rules are not isolated calculations. They are a chain of connected events that begins in crewing and continues through final payment.

A Course Built Around a Working Production

How to Pay: SAG-AFTRA Intimacy Coordinators Agreement  was designed to teach the agreement in the same order it is used. Instead of moving article by article through contract language, the course follows a single high-budget scripted production from early prep through final payroll. Each provision appears at the moment it would arise in an actual production office.

Learners confirm coverage before the deal memo is issued, choose between a daily and weekly structure based on the schedule, and determine how prep time is paid. As the production moves into shooting, long days create overtime and meal penalties that must be calculated from real timecard scenarios. When the company relocates, travel days, idle days, and per diem change how the engagement is paid. As the show approaches wrap, Pension and Health contributions are tracked to the earnings ceiling and payroll must meet the contractual pay day.

Practicing Real Calculations in a Safe Environment

One of the most difficult parts of learning a new agreement is that mistakes in the real world carry financial and compliance consequences. The course removes that risk by giving learners a complete production scenario where they can work through the calculations step by step.

Instead of memorizing provisions, participants practice applying them. They see how a five-day workweek becomes a forty-hour guarantee, how a holiday shoot day converts into double-time pay, and how a late meal turns into a specific penalty amount. By the end of the course, the agreement is no longer a document to interpret. It becomes a system they have already used.

Guided by Real Production Experience

The structure of the training mirrors the way a labor relations or payroll professional would walk a production team through the agreement. Each decision is tied to a practical outcome, and each calculation reflects the way the work is actually performed in the industry. That makes the course function like one-on-one instruction, with the added advantage that learners can return to the material whenever they need to apply the rules to a new show.

Moving from Reference to Real-World Application

If you are searching for SAG-AFTRA Intimacy Coordinator pay rules, you are usually in the middle of a budgeting, crewing, or payroll decision. This high-level reference gives you the structure of the agreement. The full course provides the environment to practice applying those rules across an entire production so they can be used accurately and consistently in real work.

To move beyond reading the contract and start working with it the way production and payroll teams actually do, explore the training inside the FTV Graduate Program.

Disclaimer:
This material is intended as a general reference guide and does not reflect the complete terms and conditions of any specific union collective bargaining agreement. While efforts have been made to present accurate and current information, the content may contain errors or omissions. Collective bargaining agreements are subject to change, and provisions may vary based on the applicable union, local, jurisdiction, production type, or individual agreement terms. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for reviewing the applicable agreement in full or consulting with qualified payroll, labor, or legal professionals.