I spent as much time as I could today at the InvestNL event, but as it was a work day for me, that wasn’t nearly enough to really take in the whole thing. I was able to catch a few pitches from the PitchCamp 101 cohort and a panel on the startup pipeline in the province. These were encouraging, and also opened my eyes once again to the sheer diversity of businesses folks are starting in this province.

I didn’t get a chance to deliver my own pitch. I participated in the 201 cohort, pitching Perfect Minute Games, and as usual I got good marks for my presentation and poor marks for my content.

Today I realized that Perfect Minute isn’t the thing I should have been pitching to begin with; I should have been pitching Gamedev NL, and more generally this community and the economic equation we represent.

So if you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to do that here and now.

the clock starts: 60 seconds remain

Hi, My name is Mike Burton. I’m the founder of Perfect Minute Games and the organizer for Gamedev NL. I’m not here today to pitch my company or even that organization, but the idea of Newfoundland and Labrador as a centre for game development.

the clock reaches 45 seconds

We are in an excellent place for game development in this province, with more developers than ever – 12 or more studios, 2 of which are at the knee in their particular growth curves – but we are also desperately starved for support in some areas.

30 seconds. Can I get where I’m going any faster?

We have 2 higher education programs that are oversubscribed from a student perspective, but they are in need of more support in terms of staff, policy and resources. We have many agencies interested in supporting game developers, but no systematic way of supporting them with the kind of project-based financing that works best for games. We have a ton of creative talent in the province, but no way to leverage them for interactive media.

10 seconds. Time to close

So I’m asking you today for several things. If you’re in government or a public organization, push for more organizational and financial support. If you’re an investor, take another look at ways you can make small project-level bets on new studios in this region.

The clock hits zero. I can’t stop yet

We already punch well above our creative weight class. I’m asking you today to help us enter a whole new arena.

Thank you.