São Paulo City to Give Cash Rebates to Foreign Movie Production Crews

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The city of São Paulo has announced a program that will give cash rebates, up to US$2.5 million of production costs, to those filmmakers who use the city as one of their filming locations or mention the city as one of its main characters or destinations.

According to officials, São Paulo city is the ideal location for all types of films and productions. This is a pioneer initiative in Brazil that further consolidates São Paulo’s position as a global hub of film production.

“Due to its infrastructure, architecture and cultural and ethnic-racial diversity, the city is fully prepared to host major international film productions. São Paulo can be everything. It is a chameleon city and can be set in the past, have contemporary or even futuristic landscapes and scenery,” said Spcine (São Paulo City’s Film Commission) president, Laís Bodanzky, last week during the announcement.

The program calls for the reimbursement of between 20 and 30 percent of the total amount of production and post-production cost spent in the city.

According to Bodansky, the reimbursement will be given to international productions, Brazilian productions with international distribution potential, as well as international advertising campaigns, completely or partially filmed in the city.

The projects must spend in the city a minimum of R$2 million (approximately US$ 500,000) per feature and are required to be produced through a local production company.

The cash rebate program will finance up to R$10 million (approx. U$ 2,5 million) for each production.

The program will also partially fund scripts of international production houses, that include São Paulo in the narrative and/or a São Paulo character, without the piece necessarily being filmed or produced in the city.

According to Spcine, São Paulo city is the second most popular audiovisual production destination in Latin America. From January through August of 2019 over 1,800 requests for production shoots were received by officials, with over US$87 million being injected into the city.

To make it easier for producers to choose locations around the city, Spcine, the second largest public audiovisual entity in Latin America, has created an app featuring images from over 400 locations to be used as backdrops, and shows several scenes shot in particular areas of the city.

Another initiative announced is the Latin American Film Incentive Award. This is Spcine’s first international public announcement focused on post production and will fund feature films and animations.

The initiative will have a total investment of approximately US$120,000 in at least three awards, up to US$40,000 each, to provide services. At least one award will be given for a Brazilian feature film and at least two for Latin American feature films. Winners must perform post-production services in the state capital.

“Brazil’s financial, technological and cultural capital, São Paulo represents twenty-five percent of Brazil’s film market share. The municipal incentive policy seeks to promote social, economic, tourist and cultural development of the municipality, generating jobs and attracting investment to the city,” says São Paulo mayor, Bruno Covas.

According to officials this is a pioneer initiative in Brazil that further consolidates São Paulo’s position as a global hub of film production.

Data from 2018 Spcine shows that over 40 percent of all production companies in Brazil are based in São Paulo state. The data also shows that last year the city hosted more than 20.4 million spectators in its cinema theatres, totaling box office revenues of over US$101.2 million.

Since Spcine’s creation in 2016 more than 3,300 productions, both domestic and foreign, have been filmed in the city and generated more than R$1.6 billion in revenues for São Paulo, including episodes of series such as Black Mirror, 3%, The Mechanism and Sense8. Actors and producers of Netflix’s latest series, The Conquest, produced by actor Keanu Reeves, were in town earlier this month to shoot scenes in the city’s center.

With this new program, the city hopes to attract more audiovisual productions to the city.

“The diffusion of audiovisual is one of the strategic movements of the São Paulo Capital of Culture program. The pioneering spirit of this incentive action will further increase the interest of the international audiovisual industry in our city,” concludes São Paulo City Culture Secretary, Alexandre Youssef.