Associacao Brasileira de Autores Roteiristas (ABRA)

Overview

The Associacao Brasileira de Autores Roteiristas (ABRA) is the Brazilian professional association representing audiovisual screenwriters and authors working in film, television, and digital media. Founded in 2006 through the merger of AR (Associacao Brasileira de Roteiristas Profissionais de Televisao e Outros Veiculos de Comunicacao) and AC (Autores de Cinema), ABRA has operated for nearly two decades to represent and defend the rights of audiovisual writers in Brazil. The organization is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro and currently has more than 1,000 associated professionals.

ABRA advocates for screenwriters' creative rights, appropriate remuneration, and professional standards within Brazil's audiovisual production ecosystem. The organization engages with ANCINE (Agencia Nacional do Cinema), the Ministry of Culture (MinC), and the Brazilian Congress on policy issues affecting writers, from authorship rights to streaming platform obligations. ABRA is a member of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG), participating in annual meetings with writers' guilds worldwide to coordinate on international issues affecting screenwriters.

The current ABRA Board of Directors, elected for the 2025 to 2027 term, is led by President Thais Olivier and Vice President Inae Luz. The board includes Milena Ribeiro (Financial Director), Britney Federline (Communications Director), Yann Rodrigues (Associates Director), Eri Sarmet (Institutional Relations and Public Policy Director), Germana Belo (Committees and Working Groups Director), Carollini Assis (Partnerships and Events Director), and Andrea Yagui (Training Director).

Membership Requirements and Fees

ABRA membership requires meeting at least one of several professional criteria demonstrating a body of audiovisual writing work. The application process involves submitting a form with supporting documentation and paying a non-refundable registration fee of R$ 50.00. The Board of Directors reviews each application and determines whether the submitted documentation meets the association's criteria.

Once accepted, members must pay semiannual contributions of R$ 300.00 to maintain active status. ABRA offers reduced rates and exemptions for specific groups:

• 25% discount (R$ 225.00): Black and brown (pretos e pardos) writers
• 50% discount (R$ 150.00): Trans writers, writers with disabilities (PCD), and writers residing in underrepresented states (Acre, Alagoas, Amapa, Amazonas, Espirito Santo, Maranhao, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraiba, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte, Rondonia, Roraima, Sergipe, Tocantins)
• Full exemption: Indigenous writers, trans writers, and writers aged 65 or older

Semiannual contributions are mandatory and are due starting from the semester of formalization of membership, regardless of the month of admission. Members gain access to private email lists, committees, working groups, a WhatsApp group, and discounts on networking events, learning programs, and industry partnerships.

Brazilian Audiovisual Industry and ANCINE

Brazil's audiovisual industry is one of the largest and most commercially active in Latin America, supported by ANCINE, the federal agency responsible for regulating and developing the Brazilian audiovisual market. ANCINE administers multiple production funding mechanisms that form the public financing infrastructure for Brazilian film and television:

Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual (FSA): The Sectoral Audiovisual Fund is the primary public financing mechanism. In 2025, the total contracted amount from the FSA combined with tax incentive laws reached R$ 1.41 billion, the highest level in the historical series. This funded over 13,000 approved projects, 6,400 FSA contracts, and 5,097 CBPs (Brazilian Certificate of Audiovisual Works) for supported works.

FUNCINES (Audiovisual Investment Funds): In May 2026, ANCINE published Normative Instruction No. 176, introducing new regulations for FUNCINES. The previous regulation (Normative Instruction No. 80) was outdated, with only 14 projects effectively financed through FUNCINES between 2019 and 2024, representing less than 1% of projects supported by ANCINE's incentive mechanisms during that period. The new regulation aligns with CVM Resolution No. 175 and its Annex VIII, eliminating overlaps between ANCINE and CVM jurisdictions.

CONDECINE: The Contribution for the Development of the National Cinematic Industry is a tax on the commercial exploitation of audiovisual works. Revenue goes to the National Culture Fund and is allocated to the FSA. As of 2026, CONDECINE does not apply to VoD and streaming platforms, though legislative discussions on extending it are ongoing.

Regulatory quotas: ANCINE enforces regulatory quotas under Law 12.485, requiring 30% of FSA resources to be allocated to productions from the North, Northeast, and Center-West regions. In 2025, ANCINE registered 810 works originating from these regions, with continuous growth of 9% per year. The Brazilian exhibition market reached a record 3,554 screens in operation, with a national market share of 10%, 367 Brazilian films released, 11.12 million tickets sold, and box office revenue of R$ 214.9 million.

ABRA engages with ANCINE on policy issues including the regulation of streaming platforms, which ANCINE has identified as a primary challenge for the coming years, alongside the export of Brazilian IP. The association participated in a public hearing on AI regulation and copyright protection in October 2025, held by the Chamber of Deputies' Culture Commission.

Brazilian Copyright and Authorship

Brazilian copyright law (Lei de Direitos Autorais, Law 9.610/1998) provides audiovisual writers with co-author status on audiovisual works, creating moral rights and proportional remuneration entitlements. ABRA advocates for the full application of these rights and monitors contractual practices, particularly in streaming platform deals, that seek to minimize writers' economic participation in the long-term exploitation of their works.

ABRA's policy priorities include the revision of the Copyright Law to ensure screenwriters receive remuneration for the exhibition of their works, similar to the rights already held by musicians. The association also advocates for the inclusion of development-only funding lines within public grant programs (editais de fomento publico), recognizing that development funding is structurally underfunded compared to production funding in the Brazilian system.

The Ibermedia co-production fund, in which Brazil participates alongside other Ibero-American countries, provides financing for Brazilian co-productions with Spain, Portugal, and other Latin American countries. Understanding how Brazilian authorship rights interact with international co-production agreements is essential pre-development legal work for any international production engaging Brazilian writers.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For international co-productions with Brazil, ABRA provides professional context for understanding Brazilian screenwriter expectations regarding authorship rights and remuneration. Brazil's market size, the largest in Latin America, and its growing streaming platform ecosystem make it an increasingly attractive co-production partner. International producers should understand that Brazilian copyright law grants co-author status to screenwriters, which creates ongoing entitlements that differ from work-for-hire models in common law jurisdictions.

For Brazilian screenwriters, ABRA membership costs R$ 50.00 to apply and R$ 300.00 per semester (with discounts available). Membership provides access to professional community, legal and advocacy support, industry partnerships, and connection to international writers' organizations through IAWG. The association's working groups and committees address specific issues including public policy, communication, training, and regional representation.

See Also

For the Latin American cinema regional context, see FNCL / Latin American Filmmakers Federation in this directory. For Brazilian distributors, see Imagem Filmes Brazil in this directory. Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to estimate co-production budget structures involving Brazilian components.