Originally written as a short story titled 'The Son of Africa' in March 2004, it was adapted into a feature length screenplay in August 2005 whilst doing script research at USC. It was workshopped at Battersea Arts Centre on Wednesday 9th and 30th August 2006 as part of the Battersea Writers' Group script development programme. The project was subsequently rejected for the 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade and repackaged as 'Equiano in Africa'.