STEVE BALDERSON
Film Director | Bestselling Author | Speaker

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Steve’s 20th feature film, Love, Venezia, is a queer love story set in Venice, Italy, based on his own life. It will premiere on the festival circuit in late 2024.

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Roger Ebert honored Steve Balderson’s second film, Firecracker, starring Karen Black and Mike Patton, with a Special Jury Award on his annual Best Films of the Year list. Steve’s debut film, Pep Squad, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has since become a 1990s cult classic. His film Sex, Lies, and Sugar (AKA The Casserole Club), featuring Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys, was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for its permanent collection. Ranked #47 on IMDb’s Top 100 Gay and Lesbian Directors, Steve’s work has made a significant impact in the industry.

 

Film Threat magazine praises, “Balderson makes movies that are so gorgeous that it’s not unreasonable to say that, cinematographically at least, he’s the equal of an Argento or Kubrick in their prime. Some people have perfect vocal pitch; Steve has perfect visual composition.”

 

Steve’s first book, Filmmaking Confidential, debuted as an Amazon and Audible best-seller. His subsequent books, How to Find Investors and Accessing Creativity, were also Amazon bestsellers. As a contributor to The Advocate and MovieMaker magazines, Steve has shared his insights widely and has been a guest lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

 

In addition to his filmmaking, Steve is a voice-over artist, narrating audiobooks for Audible and hosting notable guests on the “Filmmaking Confidential” podcast. In 2020, he produced a radio play of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, featuring Theatre World Award winner Jennifer Grace as Hedda and Steve as the judge. Audio Drama Reviews critic Michael Bergonzi awarded it four stars, stating, “Dikenga Audio’s first sonic melodrama is the quintessential audio play in both content and form.”

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In 2024, Steve released the mini-series Bloody Famous, which became the No.1 Reality Show on Tubi for several weeks, despite being a fictional satire of reality dating shows. His previous award-winning film, Alchemy of the Spirit, is a supernatural love story starring Xander Berkeley, Sarah Clarke, and Mink Stole.

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For more information, visit www.DIKENGA.com

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