WARREN Valley filmmakers create a 'Star Wars' fan movie

Filmmakers hope the 'Star Wars' fan film shows that there is no lack of star talent in the Mahoning Valley.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- Marty Hudzik was 12 when he made his first movie.
The sixth-grader used an 8-millimeter camera to shoot "Raiders of the Lost Ark" scenes with friends from his Niles neighborhood acting. He learned to cut and splice the film; a tape recorder played back sound effects.
Twenty years later, Hudzik has teamed with a partner to create a new film. This time, they used digital cameras. Computers helped with sound and editing. And, this time, the film has made it to the screen.
Hudzik and Mazen Mawlawi, owners of Icicle Studios in Warren, have created "Star Wars Chronicles -- Seeds of Darkness." The 40-minute film will have its premiere during a private showing Wednesday at the Butler Institute of American Art.
After the Wednesday night premiere, guests will attend a reception at the Youngstown State University McDonough Museum of Art.
Also sought: While the premiere is private, the movie makers hope to have a public showing at YSU this winter.
The fan film is a tribute to George Lucas and his 'Star Wars' films. Although fan filmmakers are prohibited from benefiting financially from their work, the "Seeds of Darkness" crew hopes their work sparks interest from potential investors and leads to funding for a second film.
This film was created through the use of volunteer actors and crew. Its limited costs were covered by money Hudzik and Mawlawi earned shooting wedding videos.
Although moviegoers don't have to pay to see the film, Icicle Studios is asking all those attending the premier to donate a gift that will be passed on to a local holiday toy drive campaign.
Both Hudzik and Mawlawi have computer backgrounds. Hudzik works as a network administrator at Nestle. Mawlawi is a network administrator at Delphi Packard. A third creative mind behind the film, Christopher Hanton of Cortland, is a computer engineer at Delphi Packard.
Seeds of Darkness began about two years ago when Hudzik and Mawlawi used computer software to turn a film showing a sword fight with wooden sticks into a light-saber battle.
Background: After shooting several short films, Hudzik and Mawlawi decided to go bigger.
"I hope people open their eyes and say, 'Wow. This stuff can be done in the Ohio Valley,'" Hudzik said.
Like Hudzik, Mawlawi said movie-making was also a childhood dream of his. The native of Switzerland said he had acted when he was younger but stopped when he moved to the United States nine years ago due to the language barrier. He said working on "Seeds of Darkness" was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.
"Not enough people take a chance to use their creative mind and do something with it," Mawlawi said. "Do it for fun. Forget about the money. ... Just do it for fun."
Besides profit, the group hopes the film shows that talent abounds in the Mahoning Valley area.
"We want to bring attention to our local volume of talents," said Stephanie Hudzik, operations manager of Icicle Studios and Marty's wife. "People don't have to up and leave and move to California or New York City to be successful in this industry.
"The work world is changing with the steel mills going down . We want people to realize that there's talent within you and if you nurture that talent and bring it out, who knows what you can do."