Featuring Anna Smith & Chris Smith,
Producers, BOYS Documentary,
And Kartal Peel, Director, BOYS Documentary
Human trafficking, and especially sex trafficking, has become a worldwide crime on par with drug trafficking and arms dealing. Though the injustice of human trafficking has become more widely known, the impact on boys and young men who are victims of sex trafficking has not yet received the attention it needs. Advocates Anna and Chris Smith and filmmaker Kartal Peel came together with their distinct experiences and abilities to make this injustice known in BOYS Documentary.
Anna Smith has spent the majority of her career collaborating with leading trauma experts to develop innovative approaches to care for boys and men who have exited the life of sex trafficking. As a result of co-founding the nonprofit Restore One with her husband Chris, Anna served boys and men from years 2012-2019. While running Restore One, she was compelled by the lack of education pertaining to male sex trafficking and took the leap with Kartal and Chris to co-produce a full-length film entitled, Boys Documentary, an educational tool concerning the sexual trafficking of boys and men. As an anti-trafficking advocate, Anna enjoys using her knowledge and personal experience to strengthen and stand in freedom with others through speaking, writing, teaching, and consulting. Journeying through her own recovery process, she understands that healing is a painful yet beautiful path we must take to receive freedom. Anna believes healing is possible for everyone, no matter age, gender, or situation - it is possible. As an extension to her trauma-care work, she enjoys serving survivors of trauma and abuse through counseling and trauma-informed yoga through her business, Hope Bound Yoga and Counseling LLC. Anna’s education includes a Master of Social Work from East Carolina University and 500 RYT in yoga therapeutics from the Wilmington Yoga Center
Chris Smith is an innovative influencer in the anti-trafficking movement. Compelled to action, he and his wife Anna joined forces to launch nonprofit Restore One in 2012, addressing sex trafficking of men and boys. With tenacity, Chris served as Restore One's Founding President and continued to lead with excellence, guiding the organization to champion the needs of boys and men. Influenced by the lacking education of male sex trafficking, he partnered with Creative Director Kartal Peel and Anna, to co-produce Boys Documentary. Chris continues to excel in the field of social justice by serving nonprofits through compelling storytelling and impactful digital marketing. Through his business Uprise Social, Chris strives to take social justice issues into practical action through social media marketing and management.
Kartal Peel is an award-winning digital creator that has done many things in life. He is a graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Art. He owned 3 successful businesses. He is now a Creative Producer for a national branded content studio. It’s his dream job that allows him to live out his passion every day by connecting brands with audiences through dynamic storytelling and advertising campaigns. Over the last few years, Kartal has had the opportunity to do some great work but says that he is still "winging it." He feels like if more people admitted to not knowing what they are doing, that we are all just winging it, we’d all be a lot saner. Kartal has gained a lot of skills that have come with a lot of experiences. With those experiences, he intends to truly never know what he's doing for as long as he lives -- to be a student and forever learning in this thing called life. But his intentionality in bringing to the community the stories of boys and young men who are survivors has been an intentional and heartfelt opportunity to use his skills to make a positive impact on the issue of sex trafficking.
With the BOYS Documentary, Anna, Chris, & Kartal, interviewed many survivors from different backgrounds, experiences, and locations to tell their stories and highlight the injustice of sex trafficking of boys and young men. The resulting powerful documentary not only demonstrates the distinct situations and burdens these male victims carry, but the remarkable impact they can make when they are able to overcome as survivors and advocate to protect others against these injustices.