Director Steve Balderson (right) and actor Mike Patton (of Faith No More fame) on the set of Kansas-made film Wamego.

It’s one thing to get your movie made; it’s another to make sure people see it.

“That’s the tricky part,” says Steve Balderson.

The Wamego-based filmmaker’s second feature, “Firecracker,” was released on DVD this month. So far, all kinds of accolades are pouring in to his website from viewers around the country … everywhere except from Kansas.

Through a mixture of industry bureaucracy, ignorance and bad luck, only one video retailer in the state is carrying his film.

“It’s very odd to me because it’s everywhere else: California, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Texas,” Balderson says. “You can get it at Blockbuster anyplace in the country, and they have four or five copies. It seems a little suspicious.”

Based on a murder that happened 50 years ago in Wamego (about 60 miles northwest of Lawrence), “Firecracker” is a hallucinatory drama that stars Karen Black and Faith No More singer Mike Patton – who each play dual roles. Just as the movie shifts between black-and-white and color, its subject matter is a mix of true crime and lush surrealism.

Needless to say, the independently produced film is not an easy sell. Yet Balderson inked a deal with the company 7 Arts, which itself partnered with Ventura Distribution to release the film. Trouble is that Ventura was purchased by First Look Studios this year and renamed Ventura Home Entertainment.

Somewhere within this phalanx of middle men, a lack of communication developed regarding the ties “Firecracker” had to Kansas.

Balderson says he first suspected the movie was being kept out of area retailers such as Hastings and Blockbuster (with the exception of a lone location in Manhattan) when he called the distributor to complain about audio glitches he had noticed on a stack of advance screeners. He says it became clear during the conversation that none of the people he was dealing with had ever seen his movie.

“They might not have even known it was a true story that took place in Kansas,” he says.

Calls to Blockbuster’s corporate entity confirmed the distribution snag.

“We weren’t able to acquire (‘Firecracker’) through our distributor,” says Billie Jo Schaffer, director of operations at Major Video of Kansas, which is the franchisee of Blockbuster.

“We tried. We actually have that on back order. We haven’t received it yet, but we are getting it.”

Schaffer expects Kansas Blockbusters will be stocking it “within a week to 10 days.”

As for other rival outlets across the state, she had no idea whether “Firecracker” would turn up.

(Calls to Ventura Home Entertainment were not returned.)

“I couldn’t care less who is releasing it, I’m just concerned about volume,” Balderson says. “As far as the country is concerned, we’re in a really great position because there are thousands of people all over the place who are taking this journey. But it’s just disappointing that the people here at home don’t get to take the journey.”

The 31-year-old Balderson already is engaged in pre-production for his next effort, “Wilbert Brummett,” which he describes as a “ridiculous Christmas comedy.”

But despite having dedicated eight years to working on “Firecracker,” his relationship with the project is by no means over. Only now is the picture gearing up to be released theatrically in Australia. (International distribution rights are being handled by a foreign company.)

Karen Black prepares her makeup in the making of Firecracker.

“When the common public goes to see a movie on a Friday night, they haven’t necessarily heard about it or been involved in making it. So to them it’s fresh, like it just happened. But really, when was something like ‘Superman Returns’ filmed, two years ago? So the people who actually work on the films, by the time the movies come out they’re on to other things. I personally haven’t seen my movie in about a year.”

The writer-director admits he doesn’t mind monkeying with the business side of the creative process. He found marketing “Firecracker” to be rather interesting and enjoyable.

But he advises rookie moviemakers who are new to the industry to insist on ironing out what a distributor’s sales strategies for a film are before inking any deals.

Ongoing struggles with distribution are usually the bane of independent filmmakers, according to Balderson.

“It’s such a big hurdle,” he says. “It’s something you can’t really learn because it’s always changing.