As Canadians increasingly look to global markets to sell and create new content, Latin America is emerging as a desirable destination for new partnerships.

At AFM on Friday, the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA) and Brazil’s Interstate Association of Audiovisual Industry (SICAV) announced a new cooperation agreement aimed at furthering business relationships between Canadian and Brazilian companies.

Through the agreement, SICAV and the CMPA have committed to discuss how to better promote coproductions between the two countries using  variety of initiatives, including improving the communication between the Canadian and Brazilian governments and providing members of each organization workspace when they visit either Canada or Brazil. The agreement also commits to discussing mentorship opportunities between the two groups.

This week will also see the start of the Los Cabos Film Festival (formerly the Baja International Film Festival), a relatively new festival that has actively courted Canadian participation and will this year honour Atom Egoyan and Denys Arcand.

In September, the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and the Brazilian film and TV fund SP Cine partnered to offer financing to develop indie coproductions between the two countries. That month also saw the Rio Film Commission and the Ontario Media Development Corporation ink an agreement to encourage coproduction and encourage the growth of the film and TV industry in both countries.

In April, the CMF and RioFilme launched an international tender to develop television and digital media content. To be eligible for financing through the program, a Brazilian and a Canadian producer must partner on a project that have a development fee from an eligible broadcaster in each country.

– Image courtesy of Shutterstock