While completing her degree in Media and Film Studies in 2014, Kristen began teaching fans of the popular series Outlander how sex scenes are constructed for film and television. She was surprised to discover how many viewers believed the actors were engaging in real sex on screen. Determined to correct that misconception, she began offering free Q&A sessions for fans, breaking down the mechanics, choreography, and safeguards behind simulated intimacy.
This marked the true beginning of her work as a film intimacy professional.
In 2018, Kristen learned about the newly established role of the Intimacy Coordinator and immediately recognized that her background uniquely aligned with the position. After many years of eligibility, she joined SAG-AFTRA in 2019 and spoke before the national board about her lived experiences as an actor and the critical need for intimacy coordination in the industry. She began offering free workshops to filmmakers on the role and its benefits on set, while simultaneously teaching actors how to approach filmed intimacy with clarity and confidence. As word spread, aspiring intimacy coordinators began reaching out for training and mentorship. Over the next five years, Kristen mentored ICs who felt unprepared or underqualified after starting or completing costly, often inaccessible training programs.
In 2023, Kristen traveled to Los Angeles during the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike and served as a Strike Captain at Paramount Studios. After returning home, she continued supporting the strike as an online comms moderator for all LA Strike Captains. She participated in—and hosted—numerous Zoom meetings with members of the negotiating committee, where proposed contract language was discussed, including the requirement for intimacy coordinators on set. Kristen was present in the virtual room when the contract, including the IC requirement, was ratified. It was during these conversations that the urgent need for more affordable and accessible intimacy coordination training became undeniable.
Soon after, she founded FilmIntimacy.org—the first and only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to film intimacy education.