As awards season slips into gear each year, two of the most difficult questions facing the film industry are when that period actually begins and how independent studios and talent will fare against better-funded competition released by the major studios. The 15th annual Gotham Awards ceremony, set to take place Wednesday at Pier Sixty within New York's Chelsea Piers sports and entertainment complex, hopes to signal answers to both.

Sliding into what is arguably the awards-season kickoff slot for a second consecutive year, the Gothams clearly have heightened their cachet. Whether that is enough to bestow the gravity to which their presenter, the Independent Feature Project, aspires -- or to get the show out of the shadow of the Los Angeles-based Independent Spirit Awards -- remains to be seen, but it's a step in the right direction at a crucial point in the IFP's history.

In May, IFP/LA -- now known as Film Independent, or FIND -- split from the IFP and its five U.S. chapters. The defection is believed to have stemmed at least in part from the branches' dueling trophy shows: IFP/LA's Independent Spirit Awards, traditionally handed out the day before the Oscars, were considered to be hogging the spotlight -- while being L.A.-centric to boot.

Gothams organizers moved their ceremony from September to late fall last year because while the earlier slot coincided with the annual IFP Market & Conference, the later berth seemed designed to preempt the National Board of Review's honors as the starting gun for awards season.

"We saw a window and an interest in us moving to the start of the season," IFP executive director Michelle Byrd says. "From the point of view of distributors, it's useful for certain films to have early accolades and key announcements, particularly those without a huge audience. Those kinds of things translate into dollars."

The move also seemed to generate friction between the then-two IFP branches by encroaching on the date of the Spirit nods, which are set to unfurl this season on March 4 as the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Spirit ceremony in April announced a four-year extension of its telecast deal with Rainbow Media and the Independent Film Channel, which also aired last year's Gothams. This year's Gothams will air on the regional channels NYC TV Channel 25, which reaches 7.3 million homes in the tri-state area, and LA36.

According to Byrd, the IFP concluded after much discussion that "growing or expanding the broadcast was not our priority this year. Our priority was to focus on the show (and) on our media photo campaign to promote it."

That said, though, the Gothams seem well-positioned to reinvent themselves as New York's hip antidote to the coronationally themed Los Angeles awards scene. With HBO's Sheila Nevins and prominent indie financier/producer Bob Yari as co-chairmen and Kyra Sedgwick as host, this year's Gothams have bolstered their "street cred" -- an effect heightened by the selection of Jim Jarmusch and Matt Dillon as feature tribute recipients.

The Gothams also occupy a niche as what Byrd believes to be "the only juried awards program," one that runs "more like a film festival. (The awards) are not voted on by a membership." The ceremony also has geography in its favor because "New York is considered the stomping ground of the indie film scene," according to Henry-Alex Rubin, co-director of ThinkFilm's best-documentary nominee "Murderball." "It's nice that we have an awards show to call our own."

Terrence Howard, Gotham-nominated for breakthrough actor for his role in Paramount Classics' "Hustle & Flow" and as part of the ensemble of Lions Gate's "Crash," puts it more bluntly when he says that New York can lay claim to "the true artists that Hollywood borrows most of its creative spirit from."

There remains a quandary, though: The Gothams wish to establish their own identity yet feel a need to remain Hollywood-inclusive. Byrd notes that the ceremony's nomination committee is bicoastal and that Nevins and Yari are based in New York and Los Angeles, respectively. Such bicoastal unity places the emphasis on filmmaking, rather than politics, according to Yari, also a producer on "Crash."

Interestingly, while the Spirit nods this year announced that they will be limited to films with budgets of less than $20 million and will require a certain percentage of financing to come from independent sources, the Gothams have no such restrictions and, as of last year, have been open to major-studio releases. The strategy seems to be working because there are signs that Hollywood is taking a more serious interest in the ceremony: Tables at this year's gala cost $10,000-$100,000 and are moving at a rapid clip.

"CAA, ICM and Endeavor are all taking tables this year," says David Linde, co-president of Focus Features, which saw its drama release "Brokeback Mountain" receive Gotham nominations for best feature and ensemble cast. Linde says that's noteworthy because while those agencies are "L.A. talent-based," they are "standing up for their clients and the ones they want to attract."

Mark Urman, head of U.S. theatrical at ThinkFilm, asserts that the Gothams carry clout within the indie community.

"In the past several years, campaigning for an award has become all-consuming," he says. "Proving you've won attracts people to your studio. It's not enough to just distribute a film; you have to prove you can take it the distance. These awards matter, so it's important for ThinkFilm to be there alongside Focus and Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight."

But some industry figures take issue with the Gothams' juried selection process. SPC co-president Tom Bernard calls winning a Gotham "more a recognition of committees formed by the organization" than a true victory. "It's certainly nice to be recognized by the independent film community, but it's nicer to be chosen," adds Bernard, whose studio's "Capote" and "Junebug" each nabbed a pair of Gotham noms.

Counters Byrd: "When there's a popular vote, typically what has been seen by the most people is what appears. There's no reason to replicate a voting process."

The effort to maintain such balance extends to the rest of the Gotham program: The ceremony's feature tributes have been pared to two, and its awards for ensemble cast and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You are new.

This year's Gotham nominees include a wide range of film sizes, from small-scale indies (IFC Films' "Me and You and Everyone We Know" and Magnolia's "Keane") to bigger-name, Oscar-buzzed contenders ("Mountain" and "Capote") to a full-fledged studio film (New Line's "A History of Violence").

But the Gothams still have a ways to go within the trophy-show pantheon: New York-based writer-director Noah Baumbach, who saw the ensemble cast of his Samuel Goldwyn Films dramedy "The Squid and the Whale" receive a nomination, admits, "I never stood in the mirror with a hairbrush as a kid practicing my Gothams speech."

Nobody said getting the Gothams awards-season respect would be easy. For now, most in the industry are happy to see the ceremony as a cross between a nail-biter and preholiday party: Linde might be looking at the tables, but his Focus co-president James Schamus is taking a considerably more carefree approach.

"I don't want to underplay the awards, but this really is the biggest party of the year," he says. "People drink much more than at the Golden Globes."