São Paulo State Ramps Up Film, TV Aid, Preps New On-Site Market

Taking a significant step towards becoming a South American film-TV powerhouse, Brazil’s State of São Paulo is launching an Audiovisual Industry Development Plan. Among its initiatives are grants for movies that must be made in international co-production and a first São Paulo Audiovisual Hub event early this July, designed to become one of South America’s biggest film-TV markets.

The announcement of the plan comes as São Paulo companies are consolidating on the world stage as producers of Brazilian content, such as RT Features, which produced Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” Brazil’s first movie to score a best picture Oscar nomination. São Paulo-based Gullane produced “Senna,” Latin America’s biggest production to date, which bowed in November and spent six weeks in Netflix’s non-English series global top 10.

Spearheaded by Marília Marton, São Paulo State’s secretary of culture, economy and creative industries, the Audiovisual Industry Development Plan adds to this mix.

It follows the Brazilian post-COVID recovery initiative, the Paulo Gustavo Law, which plowed $378.2 million reals ($66 million) into culture in the state, including film and TV.

“The Paulo Gustavo Law was one-off, unique funding. Talking to the sector, I realized it now needs a systematic, support to avoid having peaks and troughs,” Marton told Variety at Berlin.

Early July’s inaugural São Paulo Audiovisual Hub will celebrate a Paulo Gustavo Showcase spotlighting works funded by the law. These include “Ice Age” director Carlos Saldanha’s “100 Days,” a cross-Atlantic rowing epic, and André Ristum’s “Technically Sweet,” from a Michelangelo Antonioni original screenplay.

The Hub will also offer lectures, workshops, masterclasses and screenings of other films, along with restored and digitized works.

“Brazil has festivals but it does not have a real macro industry market. This is a first step,” said Marton.

Going forward, the state will give $4 million reals ($700,000) grants to 13 titles, four made in international co-production. “The idea is to make less films with greater resources,” Marton explained.

São Paulo State will also launch a film commission and a screenplay competition, scripts sourced from producers.

In all, under Marton, 2025’s State of Sao Paulo audiovisual funding will triple compared to 2022. There are clear tail winds. Brazilian GDP grew just 1%, 2012-20, but its cultural economy and creative industries soared 15.5%; São Paulo represents 61% of that total.