ARTS PANEL ALLOCATES $37,000 RANGE OF SANTA CLARITA GROUPS TO BENEFIT.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Local musicians, dancers, actors and film festival organizers will share more than $37,000 in grant funding from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, county officials announced Wednesday.

Organizers of the Santa Clarita International Film Festival received $4,386 to launch a marketing campaign and find a permanent home for the festival, said Suzanne Shoemaker, business developer for the festival.

Held every March, the festival has become one of the largest venues for family films in the country since it began seven years ago, Shoemaker said.

``Violence, sex and language in movies is such a hot issue now, and we want to use this grant money to strengthen the market for family movies,'' she said. ``We've never had enough capital to market appropriately until now.''

Family movies are defined as those rated G, PG or PG-13, she said.

With the recent bankruptcy reorganization of Edwards Cinemas, film festival organizers also are in search of a permanent home, she added.

About 12,000 people attended last year's weeklong festival, which included more than 60 films from all over the world, Shoemaker said.

The Santa Clarita Ballet Company received $10,728 to hire guest choreographers and live musicians to accompany the group's semiannual performances, said Hillary West, a member of the ballet company's board of directors.

``This will really help us build and expand our repertoire and grow artistically,'' West said. ``Live musicians would add a great deal to our performances, and guest choreographers would bring a different vision to us.''

About a dozen dancers ages 12 to 19 perform a spring ballet and an annual performance of the Nutcraker Suite, which also includes about 150 local children, West said.

``Some kids have just outstanding ability at a very young age, while our older dancers bring more character and depth to the performance,'' she said. ``This grant will help us continue to give kids a chance to participate in a real ballet production.''

Other Santa Clarita organizations that received arts commission grants include:

--Cantori Domino, a musical group based in Valencia, received $14,340 to augment the salaries of the artistic director, development coordinator and singers.

--In the Music Room, an orchestral group based in Santa Clarita, received $2,354 to pay musicians fees.

--Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre received $5,408 to augment the salary of its executive director.