By Duncan Mackay

Rio 2016 Olympics and ParalympicsJanuary 28 - Rio 2016 today held a briefing with the 15 companies selected in the first phase of the competition to create a mascot for the Olympics and Paralympics. 


At the meeting an overview of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements was presented, as well as background on Rio 2016 Games emblems, the Games mascots role and the creative briefing's technical details.

The briefing was led by Carlos Nuzman, President of Rio 2016. 

"The mascots mark the Games history," he said.

"They are responsible for the emotional connection between the Games and the population."

Leonardo Gryner, the Rio 2016 chief operations officer, was also present and claimed that the mascot's development process is even more complex than the emblem's.

"It's the creation of a character, which needs to be available for various purposes," he said.

The shortlisted companies also heard from Andrew Parsons, President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee. 

"Anybody capable of transmitting the sense of overcoming one´s limits through the mascot, will have achieved the goal," he told them. 

The selected companies will now develop their proposals together with the Rio 2016 team for adjustments and sharpening.

A group of companies will then be selected for phase three, in which the proposals will be evaluated by independent research.

The final phase is the jury's evaluation.

Mandeville and WenlockRio's mascots for 2016 will be following Wenlock and Mandeville

The winners will be following Wenlock and Mandeville, the mascots for London 2012. 

The winning entry will be selected unanimously and will receive a prize R$ 50,000 (£16,000/$25,000/€19,000) for the creation of the two mascots that are due to be launched in the second half of next year.

The shortlisted companies are Alê Abreu Produções Ltda, Bertoni Serviços de Programação Visual  Ltda. ME, Birdo Filmes em Animação Ltda, Borogodó Design Ltda, Cinema Animadores Ltda, DDB Brasil Publicidade Ltda, Labareda Design Ltda, Loucomov Animação e Computação Gráfica Ltda. ME, LW Comunicação  e Produção Ltda, Marcella Tamayo dos Santos ME, Mono Entretenimento Ltda, Neogama BBH Publicidade S.A, PG Produções de Cinema, Vídeo e TV Ltda., Split Studio Produções Audiovisuais Ltda and VSRM Artes Gráficas Ltda.

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