Now live on Kickstarter is Living in Purpose, a documentary film about the incredible life story of Yannik McKie.

As a young boy, Yannik McKie was living the American Dream complete with a large house, wealthy parents, and a playful dog—but it all changed when Yannik found out that both of his parents were H.I.V. positive.

By age 11, Yannik had become one of the first children in the U.S. to lose both of his parents to the deadly AIDS virus. In the years after his parents’ death, Yannik was overcome with feelings of anger and depression. Desperate to numb his pain, he became lost in a world of substance abuse and greed, and eventually became the head of a lucrative interstate gun trafficking operation. Once his actions eventually caught up to him, Yannik faced several years in federal prison. While his future had never looked so bleak, Yannik felt at peace that night in his jail cell, as he was relieved to finally have a chance to atone for his wrongs—but no one could have predicted what happened next…

Living in Purpose is the story of Yannik’s remarkable journey through despair, reckless abandon, and the criminal justice system, to a life of purpose.

This story must be told because of the real-world impact it will have on the lives of at-risk youth in this country. Through the Living in Purpose Foundation, Yannik has already brought mentorship opportunities and resources to communities in dire need for over 20 years. More recently, Yannik worked with others in his community to create the “Purpose Center”, a community center in Augusta, Georgia offering mentorship programs, entrepreneur training, and a safe space for young people living in low-income neighborhoods. The purpose of the space is to help break the cycle of poverty and crime in the community, and equip young people with the mindset, information, and resources they need to be successful (see the video below for news coverage). Yannik is determined to create this film because it will help him create more projects like this community center–it will help raise the profile of his foundation’s work,  foster relationships with funders, create opportunities for grant funding, and otherwise help fund and maintain his foundation’s efforts to uplift at-risk youth.

The purpose of this film, above all, is to restore hope for the marginalized people in our communities who need it most.Yannik’s story is not his alone—it belongs to everyone who has a story of pain and hardship. This film will show that if Yannik could rise out of his pain, anyone can.

This narrative will be driven by a combination of powerful live interview footage and real-life footage of Yannik working to empower youth in his community. The film will also include metaphorical portrayals of pivotal moments in Yannik’s journey, resulting in visuals that show the Yannik’s experience in an emotional and visceral cinematic style.

Thanks to generous donors, the Living in Purpose team has successfully raised funding to complete a trailer for the film and to complete production. They plan to continue production in April 2021, when they will shoot metaphorical representations of pivotal moments in Yannik’s story, as well as fly-on-the-wall footage of his interactions with the youth in his community in Georgia. The film is expected to be completed in early 2022.