‘Johnny Mac’ film screens at New York Long Island Film Festival

A short film depicting the life and courage of FDNY firefighter John McNamara, of Blue Point, who died of 9/11-related cancer in 2009, made its Long Island debut last weekend at the New York Long Island Film Festival.

The film “Johnny Mac” runs for about six-and-a-half minutes, and follows the young firefighter, portrayed by actor Kazy Tauginas, from his early dates at the restaurant Cavanaugh’s with his later wife Jennifer, played by actress Kayla Emerson, to his work with the Blue Point Fire Department and his over 500 hours clocked at Ground Zero after 9/11.

“While I have seen the Johnny Mac film a few times, to see it in a room full of people including my family and very close friends was indescribable,” Jennifer McNamara said. “Courtney [King] has done such an incredible job producing, and Kazy and Kayla get me and John so much that I really do feel that I am seeing our journey on screen.”

Members and supporters of the Johnny Mac Foundation, a nonprofit Jennifer McNamara created in her husband’s memory after his death that raises money for local residents in need, filled the Lindenhurst Moose Lodge, where the film screened. The group wore black T-shirts that read in yellow lettering “Johnny Mac,” followed by the foundation’s motto and the late FDNY firefighter’s mantra, “Whatever It Takes.”

Creator and producer of the “Johnny Mac” film, Courtney King, was introduced to Jennifer McNamara in 2018 after searching for a story about a father’s legacy. Over the years, the pair developed the script before filming began in 2023.

“It’s a story that definitely wants to be told,” King said about the “Johnny Mac” film. “It’s working to be honest and authentic about what happened to the 9/11 first responders. And our mantra has been that with the story of one, we tell the story of many.”

King hopes to eventually expand the roughly six-minute short “proof of concept” film into a feature-length picture.

The current film opens with actors Tauginas and Emerson, who play John and Jennifer McNamara, laughing during a date at Cavanaugh’s.

“John and I didn’t meet when we were kids. We had already lived a little, made mistakes, knew who we were, so when we found each other, that was it,” Emerson, who portrays McNamara, says in the film’s opening.

Despite never meeting John McNamara, Tauginas said he watched every video he could featuring him, and understood his role as an actor in accurately bringing the FDNY firefighter to the screen.

“The most important thing for me was just to do him justice,” Tauginas said. “I don’t throw the word ‘hero’ around lightly, but he was definitely a real-life hero—from the time that he put in at the pile, and then later his work advocating for firefighters that were dying from 9/11-related cancer.”

John McNamara had left his wife and 2-year-old son, Jack, a list of work he wanted accomplished after his death, including a community center in their hometown of Blue Point. This goal would help lead Jennifer McNamara to form the foundation in her late husband’s name, with the guiding principle of “Whatever It Takes” helping them lead the way.

The foundation helped fulfill that initial wish by completing the John McNamara Teen Center at the Bayport-Blue Point Library in 2022 after its move to Middle Road.

Throughout the years, the Johnny Mac Foundation has helped support food, clothing, and supply drives for Long Islanders in need, often doing much of its work out of the spotlight, behind-the-scenes. For her years of advocacy for 9/11 first responders and their families, along with the countless lives she’s changed through her organization, Jennifer McNamara served as the Bayport-Blue Point St. Patrick’s Day grand marshal and received a New York State Woman of Distinction award from State Sen. Dean Murray earlier this year.

“I always thought we had more time, but I refuse to let his death be in vain,” actress Emerson, who portrays Jennifer McNamara, says in the film’s closing sequence. “We will carry on his legacy of love, advocacy, and yes, firefighting. Whatever it takes, the world will remember his name.”