LA-based Upgrade Productions is revving up the new original eco-political drama-thriller series, Volcano. Nebojsa Taraba and Miodrag Sila (HBO’s “Success,” Netflix’s “The Paper”) created the series based on an original idea and are shepherding for Croatia’s Drugi Plan, alongside Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (“True Detective”) and Hörður Rúnarsson (“Black Sands”) for Iceland’s newly launched ACT 4, and with Upgrade exec producing.
Volcano chronicles the tensions that arise between vastly different societies forced to live together and co-exist in the aftermath of a crushing volcanic eruption that devastates Iceland, ensuing a UN directive to relocate the surviving residents to Croatia. The eight-part hourlong series is being adapted for the screen by Rúnarsson and co-scribe Mateja Božičević (Amazon Prime’s “Carnival Row”), with dialogue to be mixed-language, toggling between English, Icelandic, Croatian. Plans are to film the series in Iceland and Croatia as early as next year.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with ACT 4 and Drugi Plan on ‘Volcano’ as we see this series not simply as story about disaster, but an exploration of how people behave and treat each other under extraordinary circumstances. Hörður Rúnarsson and Mateja Božičević have crafted an incredibly compelling project that we’re excited to develop further together,” commented Upgrade Productions’ Head of Series Caroline Kusser.
The series adds to Upgrade’s growing slate, including several shows now in development, including the Spanish sci-fi thriller series “Ulterior” starring Alba Flores (Money Heist) and produced with Spain’s Morena Films as of last November. Also on the way are an untitled original Italian language series set around the 1982 World Cup from Italy’ Cloud 9 Film and written by Franco Bernini, Carmen Danza and Manuela Pinetti, eight-part series “A True Novel” written by Riko Sakaguchi and produced by Japan’s Shochiku, original horror series “La Jaula” from DeAPlaneta and Minoria Absoluta and written and directed by José Luis Montesinos, Aussie comedy series “About Sausages,” an original series from Ryan Shelton, and Hindi-language comedy series “Sunny Side Up,” from Mumbai-based Writeous Studios.