DISPATCH FROM AWARD SEASON | Pondering "The Breakthrough": Six Actors Discuss Their Gotham Nominated Roles

EDITOR'S NOTE: indieWIRE will be reporting from the Gotham Awards later this evening. Last night at the Director's Guild Theater in New York City, Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum sat down with the six nominees of the Gotham Awards breakthrough actor category: Pedro Castaneda from "August Evening," Rosemarie DeWitt from "Rachel Getting Married," Rebecca Hall from "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Melissa Leo from "Frozen River," Alejandro Polanco from "Chop Shop" and Micheal J. Smith, Sr. from "Ballast." indieWIRE was taking notes.
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FIRST PERSON | Ted Hope: How The New Truly Free Filmmaking Community Will Rise From Indie's Ashes

This morning, Saturday September 27th in Los Angeles, producer Ted Hope gave the keynote speech at Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum "There is no crisis," Hope proclaimed in his opening comments. How can there be a "Death Of Indie" when Indie -- real Indie, True Indie -- has yet to even live?" he asks. Creativity is not a victim of a distribution meltdown. Hope notes that the moment when the constraints of traditional models are changed for the collective good is now. His complete prepared remarks, as delivered to indieWIRE today, are included below.
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EVENTS | From "American" to "Pool," MoMA Fetes Chris Smith

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Chris Smith's "The Pool" opens at New York's Film Forum Wednesday, September 3.] In 1995, Chris Smith's "American Job" had one of its first major screenings at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Receiving a small but respectful release, Smith's debut feature was, until now, his only narrative. 1999's "American Movie" followed, one of the rare '90s documentaries to crack a million at the box office, making it a then-rare popular documentary sensation. In an interview conducted with indieWIRE that year, Smith claimed "I would not be interested in doing a documentary again because you lose sense of your personal life." He promptly followed with another two: 2001's "Home Movie" and 2003's "The Yes Men" (co-directed with long-time collaborator Sarah Price and Dan Ollman). A good 13 years later comes Smith's second narrative, "The Pool." Bringing things full circle, MoMA is putting on a full Chris Smith retro, capped with a preview screening.
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First Person: IFC's Jonathan Sehring on Dramatic Change in the Specialty Film Business

EDITORS NOTE: Struck by IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring's remarks while accepting his award at IFP's Gotham Awards in New York last week, indieWIRE invited Sehring to share his written remarks with our readers as a First Person piece. At one point for emphasis, while praising the pictures coming from the studio's specialty divisions, Sehring singled out Miramax president Daniel Battsek, nothing that however good the films coming from companies like Miramax are, they not independent films. He also encouraged the industry to embrace changes in film distribution, such as IFC's First Take day-and-date initiation. After the speech, an informal poll showed that attendees were supportive of Sehring's remarks, even as a few groused that the comments were merely to trumpet his own company.
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Edinburgh Fest Readies for "Flying Scotsman"; Artistic Director Shane Danielsen Speaks Up

The world premiere of Douglas Mackinnon's "The Flying Scotsman" will open the Edinburgh International Film Festival Monday, ushering in the 60th edition of the event (August 14 - 27), one of the world's longest running film festivals. This year's line up includes 163 films from 37 countries, with 34 designated as world or international debuts and 70 screening as U.K. premieres. In celebration of this year's landmark edition, the festival has been extended by two days. Academy Award-winner Sir Sean Connery will take centerstage at this year's event, serving as the festival's "Patron" August 16 - 26. Connery will host a special 60th Birthday Party for the fest on Saturday, August 19th and is subject of the BAFTA Scotland Interview on August 25th. The Edinburgh fest's Artistic Director Shane Danielsen also shared with indieWIRE his thoughts on this year's event, his five year tenure, and why it's time to bow out.
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