The State Government of Rio de Janeiro and the local Mayor’s office have revamped the Rio Film Commission (Filme No Rio),  in a bid to offer better support to productions looking to shoot in the state.

Steve Solot, a former Latin-American senior vice-president for the Motion Picture Association, will head the new commission, which was announced at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

Solot, currently president of consultancy Latin American Training Center (LATC), will have a brief to market the Brazilian city as a location for international productions. He is planning to offer an initial cash rebate for international productions equal to 5% of in-state spend and an incentive to encourage productions to offer local crew training and workshops.

Solot will also oversee an overhaul of the commissions’ website and location space and open international production office space with a basic infrastructure for visiting producers.

The Rio Film Commission is part of the Rio Audiovisual programme, which was launched earlier this month and aims to develop the film and media industries in the city and wider state.

The programme has already launched a $10 production and distribution fund -  Funcine, - which is backed by Brazil’s National Development Bank, Investe Rio, the state development agency, RioFilme and the Federation of Industries in the State of Rio de Janeiro. It aims to attract further private investors.

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