If the Banff World Television Festival is cutting edge, then nextMEDIA is bleeding edge.

It was four years ago that Achilles Media added nextMEDIA (June 5-7) to the front end of Banff (June 7-10), which made perfect sense considering that the nascent digital innovations discussed at nextMEDIA often go on to dramatically change the TV industry – or provide new opportunities to it. Facebook and Twitter, anyone?

And so digital issues now carry over from nextMEDIA to the Banff festival proper, the segue provided by a June 7 crossover keynote from Ron Berryman, SVP at Fox Interactive Media. Berryman, who came into the Fox fold when FIM acquired his web and desktop applications company Sidereus Technologies in 2005, will discuss the creation of compelling online properties that increase traffic and/or revenue.

A new opportunity for creatives this year comes from the Telefilm Canada TV 360 program, which will see three teams of nine vying to make the best digital media pitch for a current TV series (which won’t be named until nextMEDIA’s second day). The exercise culminates in a pitching competition in front of entertainment execs on BWTVF’s final day.

Teams will be shepherded by industry experts Anthea Foyer, training programs manager at CFC Media Lab, cross-platform specialist Mark Hand, and Stitch Media founder Evan Jones.

‘TV 360 participants will be taught the best practices required for generating new concepts for interactive narratives,’ says Mark Greenspan, Achilles’ VP digital media.

The full nextMEDIA schedule can be found at www.nextmediaevents.com/banff.