Rio de Janeiro Puts Up $20 Million for Film and TV Production

RioFilme, the film and TV company of Rio de Janeiro City, will launch a call for proposals worth R$100 million ($20 million) for film and TV production, development, distribution and international co-productions, Leonardo Edde, president of RioFilme, told Variety.

RioFilme will unveil the incentive package — its largest this year — on Oct. 1, during the first day of RioMarket, the business section of the Rio International Film Festival, Edde said.

The package is composed of six lines. The largest will support at least 20 feature fiction and animation film productions, which will divide $10.4 million. A second line, totaling $2 million, will fund the production of at least three live-action fiction and animated series.

A minimum of 12 documentary productions — theatrical, TV or streaming works — will receive a total of $2.4 million. Another $1 million in development funding will go to 20 projects for cinema, TV and streaming, while $1.2 million is destined for the distribution of a minimum of 12 feature films.

The novelty of this year's package, according to Edde, is a $3 million line for at least four international co-production projects of fiction and animated feature films. The first five lines require a Rio-based company to serve as the leading producer. For the co-production line, projects in which local companies hold a minority stake are also eligible, Edde stressed.

The co-production funding forms part of a plan to consolidate Rio as a major world film and TV production hub. The city has streamlined its film commission and created incentives that have made it one of the most filmed cities in the world, surpassing Paris and Mexico City in days shot. In the first half of 2026, Rio hosted 40 international productions, up from 28 in the same period last year, Edde said.

Companies can apply for the incentives as of Oct. 2. RioFilme's selection process will take place in the fourth quarter of this year, with funds due to become available at the beginning of 2027.

The Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual (FSA) will provide the money under an agreement between RioFilme and the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), which manages the FSA. It is the second time the two bodies have cooperated to decentralize the distribution of FSA funds. Last year, RioFilme also ran a $20 million call for proposals, though without 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."

Under the agreement, RioFilme must provide a counterpart contribution of one-third of Ancine's total investment. RioFilme has already fulfilled that obligation with two incentive programs this year totaling $6.6 million, Edde said.

With applications opening Oct. 2 and money flowing in early 2027, the new co-production line signals Rio's ambition to move beyond domestic support and position itself as a partner in international feature filmmaking.