SPENDING INCLUDES FILM BOOST $54,000 TO GO FOR MOVIE, TV COORDINATOR FOR LOCAL AREA.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The proposed city budget for the year includes $54,000 to add an administrative film analyst position as a result of an increase in the number of productions taking place in the region.

Santa Clarita's City Council is expected to discuss the proposal Tuesday as it mulls spending for the year. The final budget is expected to be adopted June 28.

``Filming has increased substantially since the city created the film office and the number of film days also has increased,'' said Toi Chisom, city management analyst. ``Additionally, we would like to coordinate with the merchants and residents to make us more film-friendly.''

The city saw a 47 percent increase in filming days during the 2003-04 fiscal year, which boosted studio spending for local businesses and services by $5.3 million, officials have said. During that period, Santa Clarita officials tallied 718 filming days - including multiple productions mounted over a single calendar day - compared with 489 in 2002-03. Spending from film, television and advertising shoots in the same period totaled more than $17.1 million.

Santa Clarita ranks fifth in Los Angeles County for film-industry spending, according to a Motion Picture Association of America study. In 2001, local residents earned $478 million in payroll from seven major studios - Disney, Fox, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Studios spent about $60.6 million at local businesses that same year.

Television shoots in the city include ``CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and the HBO series ``Carnivale'' and ``Deadwood.'' A third HBO drama, ``Big Love,'' and the cable series ``Over There'' - set during the current war in Iraq from ``NYPD Blue'' creator Steve Boccho - are slated to begin production in the city in January.

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com