Birmingham TV production experts are set to take on the best of the UK in a bid to bring huge commissions to the city and region.

Maverick Television, which is behind Channel 4's Ten Years Younger, will battle it out with rivals from Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow, at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

The company aims to prove to six industry heavyweights, who hold the purse strings to contracts worth millions of pounds, that the region is best for creative expertise.

Jonnie Turpie, chief executive of Maverick, will lead the submission.

His team has created a 60-second film - backed by Advantage West Midlands - to demonstrate the next wave of creative thinking in broadcast and digital media lives in the Midlands.

Mr Turpie said: "This city and this region have a creative culture which is completely distinctive in the UK, in that is it driven by a community of young talent which is coming together in an atmosphere which integrates a whole host of different voices.

"This richness makes our creative culture unique but also very representative of the whole of the country, in all its diversity. We are trying to express this in our submission."

A festival spokesman said regional production companies "had never had it so good".

He said: "There is increased spending from broadcasters, offering an unprecedented range of funding opportunities for regional production companies.

"Our panel controls some of that cash and will be quizzing the five leading creative cities as they present their vision of the future and explain why their city is best placed to benefit from the extra investment."

The panel comprises: Chair Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4; Judith Mackenzie, Aberdeen Asset Management; Steven Andrew, ITV; Elaine Bedell, BBC; Angela Smith, Turn On TV; Laura Marshall, Icon Film.

The Maverick team is up against companies including Boomerang, which is representing Wales, and Glasgowbased IWC Media.

Development agency Advantage West Midlands is ploughing £10,000 into the film.

Director of communications and corporate support Sara Moseley said the forum was a tremendous opportunity.

She said: "The Edinburgh Television Festival is the most significant event of the year for the broadcasting industry and it is important that we back the region's presence there.

"Future opportunities such as Ofcom's proposed Public Service Publisher require that we demonstrate now that we have the talent here that is driving the digital revolution in broadcast media."

She said Birmingham boasts the most youthful and diverse population in the UK, and is also home to IdeasFactory, a Channel 4 initiative dedicated to drawing out and celebrating the best young talent breaking into the creative industries.

The festival runs from Friday until Sunday.