Marty and his daughter, Rachel McGinley, who has a lead role in the film.  Photos provided by Marty.

According to C. S. Lewis, “You’re never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Marty McGinley, 52, put his dream of a career in the film industry on the back burner when he was 18 years old. That is, until this year.

“I planned to go to California University of Arts,” he said.

Instead, he started working right out of high school, hoping to save for college. He got married at 21 and soon had four daughters to support.

“I figured, that dream was in the past,” he said. Until his wife Katie, began encouraging him with her own motivational words.

The dream is to make a short film, “Wanting,” the vision is to launch Stillwater Pictures. Stillwater is a place where people who hope to write, compose, or contribute in other ways, regardless of their age, have the opportunity to fulfill their dream. For example, John Benedeck, who works at Piano Trends in Crystal Lake, is the composer for the soundtrack of “Wanting.” According to McGinley, “Stillwater Pictures is a place where dreamers can come together and work on fulfillment. A place to rekindle the fire that maybe dimmed with time.”

McGinley’s love of performance began when he was a senior in high school. That’s when he joined the swing choir. The comedic performer inside the otherwise shy and nerdy student bubbled up.

Still working at Bell Litho Inc., Elk Grove Village, where he started 34 years ago, McGinley gets the opportunity to exercise his artistic side. As an avocation, he’s performed at the Christian Fellowship Church in Crystal Lake, and Inhabit Theatre, as well as stand-up comedy at Zanies Comedy Club and The Comedy Store.

McGinley says his dream reawakened, literally, when “I had a story idea in the middle of the night. I got up and wrote it down. Then I let it sit.”

He took a couple of screenwriting classes online, but did nothing for four months. He began to think “maybe it’s just stupid. Maybe it’s time to retire.” Katie said “Why does being 52 mean you have to stop writing.”

That was all it took to get the fire burning. McGinley came up with short (20- to 25-minute) film with Jon Wenzel, who wrote PAN, as his Contributing Editor.

The script is done and the actors are hired, and the composer is lined up. Now it’s just a matter of finding the other talents and resources needed to bring “Wanting” to fruition. That’s where Stillwater Films comes in.

Besides hoping to draw talent, McGinley wants investors so Stillwater Films can take on other projects. He hopes to find other people who have a dream or want to be part of making a movie. “If you invest money in Stillwater you become a part of it. Investors might become Executive Producer or Contributor.”

McGinley hopes to raise $10,000.

“We’re going as small as possible for the first film,” he said.

Every $1,000 investment translates to 1 percent of film rights. Because the film stands on its own, it could be and made into a feature film, if it gets picked up by a larger production company.

“I plan to make “Wanting” the best film ever made,” McGinley said. “The film will prove that the investment in Stillwater is a credible investment.”

Anyone interested in investing, time, talent are resources can reach McGinley at  Mcginley0215@comcast.net.