TEASER
EXT. CAPE COAST PIER – SOUTH GHANA, AFRICA – 1791
An empty SLAVE SHIP (the WHITE LION) drifts listlessly in the water, lines tied to shore. Waves from a far off storm LURCH against the ship violently.
INT. THE HULL OF THE WHITE LION – DUSK
Rows of metal restraints CLANK against wooden benches. Slashes of light reveal dried blood and feces.
A SCREAM
As a FLASH of light exposes naked bodies stacked on top of each other. An open wound bleeds on worn skin, vomit mixed with pieces of bone. Unholy CRIES OF AGONY as a BULLWHIP tears through human flesh.
A BODY RISES and there is a STRUGGLE. A MATE lashes it fiercely, then steps back, aghast at what he sees –
MATE
NO! It can’t be!!
He SCREAMS as he is overtaken.
CUT BACK TO
An EMPTY metal restraint, twisted open to an unnatural shape, blood pooling near it.
INT. CAPE COAST CASTLE – NIGHT
An elegant state room, pillars laced with gold. An older Danish MAN (CLEMENT SMITH), face weathered, sits at a French oak table, decorated with ivory, a sextant and heavy pistol next to a nautical chart showing bodies of water.
He runs his hand over a worn LEDGER, revealing a manifest. A single line notes the destination and time:
Point Comfort, Virginia May 22, 1791
Beneath it amounts of supplies: Rum, spices, slaves…