There’s concern out there…concern bordering on distress…about what moves L.A. Times‘ Calendar Entertainment editor Betsy Sharkey and senior editor Lennie Maguire are planning to make in order to cover independent films after Kevin Thomas, who’s been reviewing indie releases for the Times for eons, leaves the paper at the end of the year. Sharkey and Maguire didn’t pick up, but the understanding is that the Times won’t be hiring a “new Kevin” and will have to depend on a Dave Kehr-like pinch-hitter (or perhaps a freelancer) to review the releases from Magnolia, IFC, Strand, Cowboy, et. al. Sounds like a fairly simple solution, but I wonder who the contenders are? How about staying with Kevin on a freelance basis? It seems inconceivable that the Times would ignore certain lower-profile indie releases..that they would decide to selectively review most of the smaller films but not all of them…but that’s what some people in the indie-publicist realm are worried about. Daily Calendar editor Alice Short and Deputy Daily Calendar Editor Lee Margulies declined comment.