Steven Vilendrer, hot new talent discovery

Wild Strawberry Films is proud to announce the signing of Steven Vilendrer to play a major character, Will Golden, in "Drones, Clones and Pheromones", our futuristic theatrical feature film. Steve brings a broad appeal to the project with his innate fresh talent, stunning good looks, and brilliant mind capable of insight into the most difficult complexes of his character. In person, he's charming and genuinely friendly with a naturally beautiful smile . In a very short time, Hollywood is discovering what we already know, this nice guy from the Midwest is destined to be one of the "greats". His star is rising fast which is terrific for him, for us, and for audiences world wide. Welcome aboard Steven.

Let me introduce you to him now with a brief biography. Soon, It'll be my pleasure to to tell you more about him.

Steve was born March 12, 1983 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Kent and Kathy Vilendrer, entrepreneurs who combined engineering skills with social conscience in creating a successful business that designs and builds test equipment that ensures the safety of biomedical devices. Steve has two younger sisters, Stacie, currently a junior pre-med student at Stanford University, and Stephanie, a high school sophomore and avid equestrian. His unusual family name Vilendrer, pronounced “Vill-end-er, derives from its French original, Ville d’Andre, or, “The City of Andre”.

Steve graduated from Eden Prairie High School in 2002 in the top of his class. Bookish, but amiable and athletic, Steve was the only student in his nine hundred member class to be selected as a “Governor’s Scholar”, a “Triple-A honor student” (Arts, Athletics, and Academics), and Homecoming King. He played both varsity track (short-distance) and football (wide receiver; defensive back), and helped lead his team to a state victory in 2001.
Somehow, he found time to be part of a jazz musical group.
Steve also proved to be a gifted thespian, a passion he first discovered in his middle school performance "Krazy Kamp". Steve proved himself a dedicated perfectionist when he organized extra, late-night rehearsals with director Rolf Olson to fine tune his acting performances. Most noteworthy of his roles are John Proctor in "The Crucible", and Sky Masterson in "Guys & Dolls". I have seen the movie of "The Crucible", heard the original Broadway cast, and an NPR radio play version, and in none of them did the actor rivet me emotionally the way Steve did in this high school version. When the video was made of "Guys and Dolls" Steve's voice was exhausted from multiple performances, but it's abundantly clear how much he enjoys performing.

In the fall of 2002, Steve enrolled in Carleton College, a private, liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota. He majored in Economics and minored in French. In 2002, he was featured among five freshman students in the college promotional material. He was also selected as a writing tutor during the fall of his junior year; and an economics tutor in the fall of his senior year. Steve graduated from Carleton College in 2006, Magna Cum Laude. He continuued his love affair with sports playing wide receiver in football and competing in track at Carleton, where he was as loved and revered by his teammates as he was feared by his competitors (23.4 seconds in the 200 meter dash; 52.8 seconds in the 400 meter dash).

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While enrolled at Carleton, a serendipitous encounter between the young scholar and director Wayne Schotten of Wild Strawberry Films led him to audition for Drones, Clones, and Pheromones. This has now led to his signing in March 2007 for a lead role in the film, for what he described as “not only an opportunity to rediscover his love and talent for acting, but also to contribute to an important, morally fraught topic of the twenty-first century.” The film is part of "The Supremacy Project", a feature film trilogy and TV series spinoff.

In the summer of 2006, Steve continued his business studies at Stanford University. However, yearning to try his hand once again at acting, and smitten by California weather, he relocated to Hollywood in the winter of 2006. He has since played lead roles in several U.S.C., Chapman, and L.A. Film Studies student films, and has also been featured in a Wrigley’s Mint commercial (European-wide). He currently lives in downtown Los Angeles and is working vigorously towards his ultimate career goal: “to be the next Tom Cruise…or at least his financial advisor.”