Excellent news coming from Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires today, as São Paulo Film and Audiovisual Agency Spcine announce Brazil’s first cash rebates for international productions.

Laís Bodanzky, Director-President of Spcine and one of our keynote speakers at the “Producing Film/TV in Brazil and U.S.” event in Los Angeles earlier this year, unveiled plans to launch in 2020 a cash rebate program for projects with a minimum local spend of $500,000, potentially financing up to $2.5m on each qualifying production that gets approval. Incentives, rebates, and other economic development policies were an important part of the Chamber's event, and Spcine's policy is expected to double the more than 1,000 audiovisual productions currently shot each year in the City of Sao Paulo.

"We at the Brazil California Chamber of Commerce thank and congratulate Ms. Bodanzky for her leadership and diligent work, and are confident this policy will help boost Sao Paulo's entertainment sector", said Felipe Cusnir, President of BCCC, "We stand ready to continue to foster cross-border collaboration and investment", he completed. Fabio Cesnik, Chairman of the Media & Entertainment Committee, added: "We're delighted to learn about Spcine's announcement today, and it serves as testimony to our work to promote dialogue and understanding between public and private sectors and between Brazil and the U.S.".