Morais Leitão launches Film & TV practice
Morais Leitão has launched a dedicated Film & TV practice aimed at providing legal and strategic support to international productions filming or co-producing in Portugal. The new group will serve producers, studios, financiers, distributors and streamers operating in or through the country.
According to the law firm, the practice covers the full production cycle, from corporate structuring and incentive applications to crew contracts, IP clearance, co-production treaty compliance and regulatory approvals. It is designed to handle the specific requirements of international co-productions and foreign productions using Portugal as a production base. Among its core services, the team structures SPVs, branches or co-production vehicles for activity in Portugal, handles cash rebate and cash refund applications and compliance, drafts production, co-production and production services agreements, manages crew and talent hiring including work permits for non-EU nationals, deals with IP chain of title, licensing and distribution agreements, and processes filming permits and administrative authorisations.
The team draws on lawyers from Morais Leitão’s financial, tax, employment and immigration, intellectual property, corporate, regulatory and insurance practices, offering integrated, multidisciplinary support tailored to production environments.
Regulatory backdrop
The initiative follows the reform of Portugal’s production incentive system in early 2026 with the launch of SCRI.PT, a funding programme offering over €35 million in annual support for film and audiovisual production, complemented by a €150 million mutual guarantee credit line running to 2029. Portuguese incentives can be combined with European and other international public funding, a feature that supports multi-jurisdiction financing structures. The country also offers a range of filming locations within relatively compact distances, a cost-competitive workforce, twelve bilateral co-production treaties and an agreement with Canada currently under negotiation, states Morais Leitão.
Since early 2026, the Film & TV team has been present at industry events including the European Film Market at the Berlinale, StreamTV Europe and the Marché du Film at Cannes. In the second half of the year, the team plans to attend the Toronto International Film Festival as well as selected events in London and Portugal, and says it welcomes enquiries from producers and production companies considering Portugal for upcoming projects.
Firm commentary
“With the launch of this new practice, we aim to bring dedicated legal and strategic capacity to the audiovisual industry. We believe Portugal has conditions to attract investment and international audiovisual production, and we want to contribute to the sustainable development of this sector by bringing Morais Leitão’s multidisciplinary expertise and international network to bear”, said Martim Krupenski, managing partner at Morais Leitão.
