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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — RioFilme, the film and TV company of Rio de Janeiro City, will launch a call for proposals amounting to R$100 million ($20 million) for film and TV show production, development, distribution
and international co-productions, Leonardo Edde, president of RioFilme, told Variety.
RioFilme will unveil Oct. 1 the incentive package, the largest one of the company this year, during the first day of RioMarket, the business section of the Rio International Film Fest, Edde said.
The incentive package is composed of six lines. The main one will support at least 20 feature fiction and animation film productions, which will divide $10.4 million, while a line totaling $2 million will fund the production of at least three live-action fiction and animated series.
A minimum of 12 documentary productions, including theatrical, TV or streaming works, will receive a total of $2.4 million. A further $1 million in development funding will be available to 20 projects for cinema, TV and streaming, while a total of $1.2 million is destined to fund the distribution of a minimum of 12 feature films.
The novelty of this year’s incentive package, said Edde, is a $3 million line for at least four international co-production projects of fiction and animated feature films.
The first five lines are for productions in which a Rio-based company is the leading producer, he added. For the co-production line, however, projects in which local companies have a minority stake are also eligible, Edde stressed.
The co-production funding is part of a plan to consolidate Rio as a major world film and TV production hub. Rio has streamlined its film commission and created incentives that has made it one of the most filmed cities in the world, surpassing Paris and Mexico City in terms of days shot in the city. In the first half of 2026, Rio hosted 40 international productions, up from 28 in the same period last year, Edde added.
Companies will be able to apply for the incentives as of Out. 2. RioFilme’s selection process will take place in the fourth quarter of this year, and the coin is due to be available in the beginning of 2027.
Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual (FSA) will provide the money for the $20 million incentive package as part of an agreement between RioFilm and the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), which manages FSA. It is the second time RioFilm and Ancine cooperate to decentralize the distribution of FSA’s funds. Last year, RioFilme also held a $20 million call for proposals, the difference being it did not include a line for international co-productions.
“The regional arrangement is interesting because it decentralizes decisions about how and where to invest,” Edde said. “Local territories obviously understand their own strengths and potential much better than the federal government does. I strongly support this mechanism because it broadens the distribution of responsibilities and gives local territories responsibility for implementing the resources.”
As part of the RioFilme/Ancine agreement, RioFilme is required to provide a counterpart contribution of one-third of Ancine’s total investment. RioFilme has already fulfilled the counterpart with two incentive programs this year totaling $6.6 million, Edde said.
