Development funding worth $10,000 will be up for grabs at this year’s nextMEDIA conference, which has teamed with Telefilm Canada to launch a new pitch competition for the makers of digital content. The Telefilm Launch Pad — modeled after the pitch sessions of nextMEDIA’s big sister, the Banff World Television Festival — will put producers and their ideas in front of a jury of media execs from Canada and around the world.

‘We are happy to have Telefilm Canada on board to help facilitate this program and provide digital content producers with yet another opportunity to learn, meet and do business,’ said nextMEDIA organizer Mark Greenspan in a statement. The festival, like Banff, is run by Achilles Media and runs June 8-10.

The sessions will be lead by Marty Avery, founder of the What If? strategy firm in Calgary. The deadline for submissions is May 1. Details are available at www.futureofdigitalcontent.com.