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YOUNGSTOWN -- For as long as he can recall, Danny Mizicko has been fascinated with seeing the migration of crows in flight -- so much so that they were some of the main unspoken extras that flew their way into and out of a film he helped make and, by extension, into viewers' hearts.
"I was shooting music videos when thousands of crows were in the trees. I document them every winter," said Mizicko, a videographer and director who helps run Stuck in Ohio.
Thousands of the intelligent black birds also were in several scenes captured in "The YO," a new urban adventure documentary that uses Youngstown and surrounding areas as the backdrops.
The 75-minute film that showcases 20 years of self-expression and action rooted in the Mahoning Valley premiered Sunday afternoon at Stambaugh Auditorium, to the delight of an estimated 2,000 people of all ages who filled the house to see it.
Stuck in Ohio is an award-winning Mahoning Valley production company that produced "The YO," which has been described as "a celebration of culture, community and experiences that shaped a generation," and like a "love letter" to the city that raised it.
The documentary, often filled with light moments and no shortage of Norman Rockwell-style innocence and levity, opens with early recollections of Mizicko and his brother, Ken Mizicko, enjoying hockey and other winter activities at the Mill Creek Park ice rink, as well as memories of C-130 flyovers at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, where Ken Mizicko grew up.
The documentarians also weren't shy about including humorous and hair-raising footage of stunts from kids "pushing the limits" that include snowboarding in the winter over parked vehicles. Several scenes depict the two brothers clearing snow from a staircase leading to the Youngstown State University bookstore in Kilcawley Center before they used the railings and sides to snowboard after a late-winter snowfall in March 2008.
Using the city as their canvas, the Mizicko brothers also filmed in and near several abandoned structures such as former steel mills, factories and barns. Numerous times throughout the film, audience members clapped and cheered when they saw familiar people, locations and scenery.
What started as footage of a skateboarder on a street in 2005 morphed into "a two-decade journey," the premise of which took greater shape during the COVID-19 pandemic, Danny Mizicko said. The local and nationwide shutdown gave him time to dig into the brothers' film archives to review what they had captured over the years, from which the need to tell a deeper story emerged, he added.
Mizicko's resume, however, extends far beyond the Valley. He spent one season as an editor in Secaucus, New Jersey, for the NBA just before the pandemic, and edited commercial and highlight videos for ESPN's social media platforms. Mizicko also spent a year in Los Angeles editing promotional videos for an energy drink.
"It's really our story," Ken Mizicko said about "The YO," noting that the film was not intended to be an historical piece, though some old footage is shown, such as the steel mills operating.
The brothers also spent about three years adding various pick-up shots, though the bulk of footage came from action and other projects, he said.
Overall, "The YO" captures the essence of movements -- some carefree, others more reserved -- and creativity woven with a pervasive sense of resilience, a quality often attributed to Youngstown residents who have endured tremendous loss, yet forge ahead with a hard shell of grit, determination and perseverance.
In addition, the documentary is a 20-year filmmaking journey of storytelling intended to connect people and places that define the city and the larger Valley.
"The goal is for folks to open up their inner explorer," Ken Mizicko said.