KIDS TO LEARN MOVIE SKILLS.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - The Santa Clarita-based International Family Film Festival is expanding its What IFFF? Kids Film Festival and Film Camp, which will be held in July.

The 11-year-old program for young filmmakers is open to 7- to 18-year- olds and will be held July 11-15 at the Santa Clarita School of the Performing Arts in Newhall.

Under the program, short films and screenplays will be accepted for a competition for this age group. Information on submitting these offerings can be found at www.iffilmfest.org and submission forms can be downloaded. The finalists' films will be screened publicly the week of the film camp and awards will be announced on July 15.

For more information about the competition, contact program director Pattee Dee McKee at ifamilyff(at)sbcglobal.net.

The film camp is an immersive learning experience that will run 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The program costs $375 and includes all materials and lunch.

The camp is divided into two age groups, 7-11 and 12-18. The morning sessions includes film screenings of finalist films and staged readings of finalist screenplays. During the afternoon hours, the film camp will focus on the actual skills involved in making a film with four hours daily of a hands-on filmmaking program.

Each day ends with an interactive session with film professionals who will talk about their particular skills.

The participants will work with film animal trainers, special effects makeup professionals, professional animators, professional voice-over talent and stage fighting/stunt professionals. The week ends with the film and screenplay awards.

For reservations and information, call [phone] or visit the Web site.