A delegation of digital media firms from the West Midlands are travelling to Texas next week as part of a film, music and interactive festival.

A total of 20 West Midland firms, including Maverick Television and Fish In A Bottle, will be in Texas between March 12 and 21 as part of the UK presence at the South by SouthWest festival.

Advantage West Midlands (AWM) is heading up the delegation of industry experts supported by UKTI, to showcase innovation, content creation and cross-media collaboration in the region.

More than 20 per cent of the UK’s game developers are based in the Heart of England region, and interactive digital media has been highlighted as a potential growth sector.

A £10 million digital media fund has consolidated the West Midlands at the centre of the digital media revolution in the UK to take advantage of a long history of traditional gaming technology.

AWM chief executive Mick Laverty said: “We have a highly skilled regional workforce and an impressive knowledge base in this sector, particularly in social media and games, where we are making significant advancements and nurturing the next generation of innovators. Some of this talent will be on display at South by SouthWest, not only to win business, but to help our region’s interactive sector continue to thrive.

“In addition we are demonstrating to American companies how they can expand their businesses to service the UK and European markets while being supported by an experienced and enthusiastic digital media community regionally.”

AWM helps to fund the Advantage Creative Fund, a £5 million venture capital pot set up to assist the growth of the creative industries in the West Midlands.

Among the companies attending the festival, to showcase the innovation in the region, are Fish in a Bottle, which works on projects for Disney and the BBC, and Maverick Television, a production company which creates cross platform content for more than 20 major UK television formats.

Screen WM which supports, promotes and develops a thriving screen media sector in the West Midlands by raising the profile of available locations and talent, will also attend.