BRC Imagination Arts and Jim Henson's Creature Shop Launch Traveling Mascot for the Expo 2015 in Milan

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

BRC Imagination Arts, an experience design agency that Turns Brands Into Destinations, has partnered with Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group, to create the world's first mobile mascot for a World Expo. The mascot will extend the message of "Growing Europe's Future Together for a Better World" to attendees anywhere on the Expo grounds, as well as into the streets and piazzas of Milan.

"BRC Imagination Arts has created World Expo experiences for more than three decades, but until now we have been constrained by the physical confines of the expo pavilion itself," said BRC Imagination Arts Executive Creative Director and Vice President Christian Lachel. "From our earliest conversations, the European Union wanted a deeply engaging, emotionally evocative, transmedia experience that could touch the greatest number of people possible. By partnering with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to create this traveling mascot, we transcend the Expo's physical boundaries and make people part of the story in ways that have never been done before."

The mascot is based on the litter of puppies from the film "The Golden Ear" which is part of the overall story-driven media and asset package recently completed and delivered by BRC Imagination Arts for the Expo.

"This mascot experience is very interactive. We created animatronic versions of the puppies, and a custom bicycle with integrated controls that animate them in their engagement with guests," said Peter Brooke, Creative Supervisor of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. "This experience perfectly represents Jim Henson's Creature Shop's brand and the stellar integration fans have come to expect. We are inspired by innovative ways to bring characters to life and this project takes the story beyond the screen and makes it completely immersive, so everyone who encounters it shapes the story in their own way."

In addition to the film and physical mascot, the characters also extend to digital games, social media and physical merchandise.

BRC Imagination Arts has created award-winning World Expo experiences for more than 30 years. The company's World Expo client list includes the United States at Aichi Expo 2005 and Shanghai Expo 2010; China Mobile and China Telecom at Shanghai Expo 2010; as well as 16 others.

About BRC Imagination Arts
BRC Imagination Arts Turns Brands Into Destinations. It conceives, designs and makes emotionally evocative brand destinations and cultural attractions that audiences love. For more than three decades, its masterful storytellers have helped iconic brands all over the world tell their stories in ways that engage audiences and inspire brand loyalty. BRC Imagination Arts has worked with and created some of the most respected and iconic destinations in the world, including "The Heineken Experience", "Dream Big" by China Mobile and China Telecom, "Story Garden" by AMOREPACIFIC, "The World of Coca-Cola" "The Ford Rouge Factory Tour" and "The Guinness Storehouse." For more information, visit http://www.brcweb.com.

About Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop provides performed digital visual effects, animatronic creatures, animation and soft puppets to the international film, television and advertising industries. Based in Los Angeles and New York with satellite shop capabilities internationally, the Shop is known for designing and building some of the world's best-known characters including the Sesame Street puppets, the classic Muppets, the dinosaurs from Dinosaurs, the aliens from Farscape and the fantastical creatures from The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Other features credits include Where the Wild Things Are, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Five Children and It. The shop is also known for its live performance work with artists like Cee Lo Green, Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Deadmau5. A recipient of more than 9 Emmy Awards for its outstanding work building puppets for Sesame Street, the Shop also received an Academy Award for its visual effects work on the film Babe. Other awards include a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award for the Henson Performance Control System, a powerful custom-based interface for puppeteers, and an Emmy Award for its work in developing the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a patented control system technology that enables puppeteers to physically perform a computer generated (CG) character in real time. http://www.creatureshop.com