Jack Osterholt (Deputy Mayor), Sandy Lighterman (Miami-Dade Film and Entertainment Commissioner), Steve Solot (President of the Rio Film Commission) and Hélio Ramos (Consul General of Brasil in Miami)
Miami-Dade County, by and through the Office of Film and Entertainment, RioFilme and the Rio Film Commission signed a cooperation agreement to promote their respective audiovisual industries and contribute to economic development and job creation in their respective cities.
The Miami-Dade Office of Film and Entertainment is a full service film commission providing location and logistics assistance, government liaison, production information and referral sources for Miami and and several County municipalities. Together with the City of Miami Beach Film Office, the two organizations offer a one-stop permitting system.
The Rio Film Commission (RFC) is a project of the Interstate Audiovisual Industry Union – SICAV and is sponsored by RioFilme, the municipal audiovisual content promotion and investment company of Rio de Janeiro. Through a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, RFC has powers to act in the entire state of Rio de Janeiro.
The specific objectives of the agreement are:
– To initiate and ultimately create an international network designed to share ideas and best practices on domestic and international film production and promotion;
– To promote the respective areas as filming locations to media companies already established in Miami-Dade County or Rio de Janeiro and interested in multi-locations projects.
Such an effort can be accomplished by providing guidelines on how best to produce film and audiovisual projects in both Miami-Dade County and Rio de Janeiro.
Areas of collaboration include visits from delegations to each other’s jurisdiction; Territorial marketing actions aiming to promote both locations’ film industries, facilitating dialogue in connection with the audiovisual production industry, developing guidelines for Brazilian and American film makers coming to Rio de Janeiro and Miami-Dade County on how best to produce their project.
The signing ceremony was held at the Mayor’s Conference room, and the Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Deputy Mayor, Jack Osterholt, who oversees the Regulatory and Economic Resources Department under which the Office of Film and Entertainment operates, Mariana Ribas, President of RioFilme and Steve Solot, President of the Rio Film Commission. Sandy Lighterman, Miami-Dade Film and Entertainment Commissioner and Ambassador Hélio Ramos, Consul General of Brasil in Miami, were also present.