Rio de Janeiro Looks to Grow Cash Rebate
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Rio de Janeiro city authorities are looking to increase Rio’s cash rebate for international shoots launched last October by city org RioFilme with a 35% deduction rate on expenditure and R$15 million ($3.0 million) in total funding. “We have on the table a proposal to double that,” Marcelo Calero, Rio de Janeiro city secretary of culture told Variety at Cannes.
That 100% hike would be subject to the “approval chain that we have to follow at the city hall,” he added. A decision may be made by June when RioFilme is set to issue the call for applications for a second year of the cash rebate.
An increase would build on a first year of operations which Calero rated a “tremendous success,” he said, noting a specific increase in both the number of shoots in Rio and days spent filming there.
Total shoot days last year in Rio stood at above 7,000, which compares to around the same figure for Madrid and 10,800 for Paris. “It was very symbolic that Rio de Janeiro rated after the rebate with some of the most skilled cities in the world,” Calero noted.
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