Black Sails is an American period drama action-adventure television series created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, after the feared Captain Flint brings on a younger crew member as they fight for the survival of New Providence Island.
Black Sails - shot on location in Cape Town, South Africa - is a gritty adult drama set in the brutal and cutthroat golden age of 18th century piracy.
A story combining real life historical figures, events and locations with fictional pirate legends, the gritty, raw and violent series from executive producer Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon) stars Toby Stephens, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy and Hakeem Kae-Kazim, as well as a veritable who's who of South African acting talent including Sean Cameron Michael and Louise Barnes.
This rollicking and authentic pirate adventure centers on the tales of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) and his men and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island.
Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver (Luke Arnold).
Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day - a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.
Black Sails is executive produced by Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (The Purge , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).
The series was created by showrunner and executive producer Jonathan Steinberg (creator Jericho, Human Target) and season two executive producer Robert Levine (Touch).