Acclaimed Kansas filmmaker makes name for himself in business, sticks to Wamego roots

Editor's Note: This article was completed as an assignment for a class in the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Even though local filmmaker and director Steve Balderson has eight professional films under his belt, a whopping 20 film award nominations — nine of which he won — and an array of international praise, he has yet to find a reason to leave Kansas.

His films have earned awards, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Picture and Best Editing at independent film festivals like Raindance and Visionfest. Not to mention the additional honors credited to his films including best actor and actress awards.

Acclaim for his films include reviews from movie critics like MJ Simpson, who called Balderson's most recent film, "The Casserole Club," "Magnificent, another tour-de-force by the best kept secret in American cinema."

His 2005 film, "Firecracker," was given a Special Jury Award by movie critic Roger Ebert on his annual Best Films report.

After living in California for three years while studying at the California Institute for the Arts, Balderson stuck to his Kansas roots and moved back to Wamego, where he runs his office and partners a graphic design/marketing business.

"I like living here because I can live well here," he said. "It's peaceful. If I lived in LA or New York my life would be exactly the same, it would just cost more ... And I can shut down the street and film there without anybody really caring."

Balderson has filmed in locations like Manhattan, Wamego, Georgia, Palm Springs, Calif., and most recently, London and Paris for his newest project, "Culture Shock," which is now in the post-production phase.

"It was interesting, because we didn't really get permission to shoot anywhere," he said. "It's pretty rare to get away with filming on the street. It's actually illegal to film in the Underground, but we were taking it from location to location, and we had actors in costume, so we figured, why not shoot stuff? And we did and got away with it."

In his movies, Balderson works with an array of people from all corners of the film industry. His casting technique ranges from sending out a manifesto - where actors can read about his directing style and then choose to contact him about working - to seeking out up-and-coming actors or using local talent.

Actors he has worked with in the past are Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Karen Black as well as Susan Traylor, wife of Bob Dylan's son Jesse.

Average post-production turnaround time for Balderson's films is around four months. For his last three films, once he has done basic editing like color correction, he sends the film to Los Angeles to composer Rob Kleiner for scoring.

"I was a fan of Steve's films, and then started working together after we were introduced through a mutual friend a few years ago," Kleiner said. "As long as he likes what I do, I would definitely take up any movie he sends my way."

Kleiner was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for a song he collaborated on with Cee Lo Green in the movie "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse."

Balderson's interest in filmmaking and compositionally creative art forms began when he was a child and was instigated by his grandfather.

"He wasn't a professional, but he was always taking pictures and always had a camera around his neck," Balderson said.

His grandfather provided him with his first video camera around the age of 8, and Balderson has never looked back. During his time at Manhattan High School, he discovered that videography and filmmaking were what he wanted to do because he could "literally not do anything else."

Three-and-a-half years of study later, Balderson's life hit a milestone. In 1996, he wrote the manuscript for his first film, "Pep Squad," in three days and packed his bags and moved from California without telling a soul.

Once back in Kansas, he put together a business plan, found investors, then went out and made his first movie — which had a budget of $500,000.

"I learned a lot [at school], but they can't teach you how to make a good movie," he said. "It's a lot of trial and error and it's an innate thing."

After 10 years of working in the movie business, Balderson is still perfectly content to call a small town in the middle of Kansas his home. He said he sees no need to move to a larger city or one closer to the industry epicenters.

"I can be at the Manhattan airport in 30 minutes, then in Chicago or Dallas in two hours, and then New York or LA in three or four," he said. "Why would I need to live anywhere else?"