Portugal

The newly elected Portuguese government of Antonio Jose Seguro is backing plans for a new-look film and high-end TV (HETV) funding programme. At time of going to press, Portugal Film Commission was working through the details of exactly how the funding programme will work, but the headlines for overseas producers include a new name for the programme, budget backing and a pledge for the funding to run for the next four years.

The new Audiovisual and Film Industry Funding Programme (aka SCRI.PT) will allocate $409.5m (€350m) across the next four years. Targeting big productions, the cash refund portion will consist of $41m (€35m) annually, while the cash rebate will comprise $17.6m (€15m) for medium-budget projects.

It replaces the former easy-to-use, easy-to-apply 30% cash refund incentive programme — dubbed Pic Portugal — which had been luring overseas filmmakers to its shores since 2024.

Projects supported by these incentives will be able to access the mutual guarantee scheme, which will have an allocation of $175.5m (€150m) for audiovisual and film production for 2026-29, says Rita Santos, project officer at Portugal Film Commission.

The mutual guarantee scheme will act as a safety net alongside the SCRI.PT
incentive, which includes both cash refund and cash rebate to help producers access finance and support the country’s growing production industry. (As before, the cash rebate and cash refund incentives cannot be combined.)

“It’s a new programme that reinforces the idea of Portugal as a well-grounded partner for shooting and producing international projects,” says Ana Marques, executive director of Portugal Film Commission. Details will be with local and international producers and filmmakers shortly.

The territory is hoping the mechanisms will help repeat recent production successes. These include an episode of FBI: International, produced by Wolf Entertainment in association with Universal Television and CBS Studios, which filmed in Portugal.

Disney+ original Spanish comedy series If It’s Tuesday, It’s Murder (Si Es Martes, Es Asesinato) filmed entirely in capital Lisbon, showcasing several iconic locations including Praca do Comercio, the area around Belém Tower and various scenic viewpoints.

Early film project beneficiaries of the soon-to-be-replaced film and HETV funding programme included horror film Arachnid, directed by Spain’s Angel Gomez Hernandez and produced by US banner Badlands Productions and the UK’s Altitude Film Entertainment. It shot for five weeks in Lisbon as well as Spain’s capital Madrid. Badlands president Scott Strauss said the funding helped them to make a movie that looks three times its budget.

Portugal can lay claim to being one of the less expensive European countries. It boasts 300-plus days of sunshine and picturesque locations spanning mountains, valleys, lagoons, islands and historical monuments.

Portugal Film Commission does not issue filming permits but it does connect international productions with local contacts. Portugal and its Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual have co-production agreements in place with more than 60 countries, including several European territories and all Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Brazil, Mozambique and Angola.

Local crews are becoming much more experienced due to the increasing number of international productions shooting in the country. They are fluent in English and many also speak Spanish and French.

There are enough professional crew in the country to accommodate up to 20 productions at one time, and it is easy to reach across the border to Spain if more are needed. Most productions go to Portugal for locations, but there are a few studios in the Lisbon and Porto areas.

Portugal is a relatively small country that is well connected internally by air and land. It is also very easy to get around on public transport and the country has diverse geography and architecture that is in close proximity.

It takes less than 5 hours to travel from North to South by car and there are five international harbours and six international airports with direct flights into Lisbon from all over the world.

Getting a good local fixer/production service provider is recommended to assist with city hall support, insurance and location hiring.

First contact: Ana Marques, executive director, Portugal Film Commission @ ana.marques@portugalfilmcommission.com