12 Film and Digital Production Accelerator Teams Competing for $54-thousand in Prize Money

Indie Ignition Accelerator’s first cohort of film and digital production teams will compete for a total of $54-thousand in cash prizes at the 2025 Calgary International Film Festival.

Twelve teams have completed the 12 weeks of acceleration sessions, coaching on areas such as marketing and budget and legal considerations.

The teams have a wide range of ideas, from specialized content creation to new intellectual property and industry focused digital services.

“At the end of this program, the companies that have gone through it are more ready to hit the ground running and keep moving forward with their businesses,” says Ryan Coutts, Digital Entertainment Accelerator Lead at Bow Valley College. He says the real success is seeing more startups succeed and expand Calgary’s digital creative ecosystem.

“Not only are we kind of setting them up with that preparedness and confidence level in moving forward as an entrepreneur, but they also have access to the right resources to make a pilot or teaser for example,” says Coutts. “They're going to be leaving with something tangible that can help them move forward and gain funding or whatever it is they need to be successful,”

The pitch competition will award 6 prizes in total: $12-thousand for the first place team along with a one-year subscription to specialized film production budgeting software, $10-thousand for second, and $8-thousand for third place. Prizes are funded through OCIF.

A further three prizes of $8-thousand each will be awarded to the top three female founder teams, made possible by a generous grant from TC Energy.

Indie Ignition assembled a panel of three expert judges from the industry to run the pitches through the lens of their long professional experience, and to reward the best and most innovative work.

Steven T Seagle is a Los Angeles based writer and illustrator with more than 30 years in comics, theatre and television with a list of credits it would take hours to go through in any detail.

Selina Star Crammond is a seasoned production executive and Director of Programming for the prestigious DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver. With a host of other professional commitments, she breathes film and big ideas.

Adnaan Wasey is Calgary’s newest film commissioner, bringing two decades of leadership experience with roles at PBS, Disney and The New York Times. Returning to Canada after years south of the border, Wasey says Calgary is at an important creative inflection point.

The competition is Saturday Sept 20 at Delta Hotel’s Glacier Ballroom starting at 2pm. Winners are expected to be announced shortly after 5pm. The event is free and open to the public, but organizers are asking people to RSVP.

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