City Hall leads action between municipalities to consolidate the State of Rio as an audiovisual powerhouse

In 2023, Rio became the most filmed city in Latin America and one of the most filmed in the world. Photos: MARCOS DE PAULA/PREFECTURE OF RIO

On Monday (17/03), RioFilme CEO Leonardo Edde participated in the 5th State Meeting of Culture Managers of Rio de Janeiro, held at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), promoted by the State Secretariat for Culture and Creative Economy (Sececrj). The meeting aimed to present the group's planning and foster a democratic debate on current public policies.

During the event, Edde highlighted the initiative of RioFilme, an organization linked to the Municipal Secretariat of Culture, which leads the action to create a network of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro to strengthen the audiovisual industry.

– We are excited about the project and the possibility of using RioFilme’s experience, which is unique in the country, to lead the conversations. The first meeting with 11 municipalities was a success. RioFilme, with its 33 years of experience acting as a driving force for the distribution and development of Brazilian cinema, is, of course, a fundamental part of these meetings. The audiovisual sector involves several activities, such as infrastructure, professional training and, of course, audiovisual production – says the CEO of RioFilme.

The action, which aims to work in a network through the combined efforts of municipalities interested in developing their audiovisual industry, consolidating the State of Rio as a reference for the creative industry in Brazil and the world, already has the support of several municipalities in Rio, and had its first meeting in February of this year.

Rio de Janeiro's audiovisual industry is experiencing its best moment

The Rio de Janeiro audiovisual industry is experiencing a moment to be celebrated. The success of “I’m Still Here,” the first Brazilian film to win an Oscar – entirely filmed in Rio de Janeiro and directed by Walter Salles, a director from Rio de Janeiro – adds to the excellent results recently announced by the Rio de Janeiro City Hall and Ancine. Here are some of the figures:

Between 1995 and 2023, production from Rio de Janeiro was responsible, on average, for 71% of the audience and 70% of the annual income of Brazilian cinema;

Between 2021 and 2024, Rio City Hall's investments in audiovisual, through the Municipal Department of Culture via RioFilme, exceeded R$146,5 million, enabling 442 projects;

In 2023, municipal investment generated around 12 thousand jobs in the technical and artistic areas;

With the implementation of the “Cash Rebate” mechanism (Notice of Incentive for the Attraction of Audiovisual Productions for the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro), the city attracted R$83,7 million, in a proportion of R$3,7 attracted for each real invested by the municipality;

In 2023, Rio became the most filmed city in Latin America and one of the most filmed in the world, surpassing Paris and Mexico City in the number of days of filming authorized in public spaces;

In 2024, the results were even better, with the city being the location for 8.782 filming days, from 505 productions. Of this total, 27 were international productions, which chose Rio as the setting for 748 filming days, an increase of more than 100% in this regard compared to 2023, according to the Rio Film Commission, a department of RioFilme that authorizes and supports filming in the city.