Upgrade, Morena Films partner on sci-fi thriller from Money Heist’s Alex Rodrigo

L-R: Alba Flores, Jonathan Kier and Matt Brodlie

LA-based Upgrade Productions is partnering with Spanish production company Morena Films to produce a sci-fi thriller from director Alex Rodrigo starring Alba Flores (Money Heist).

Ulterior will be an eight-part Spanish-language series set in a society with an increasingly low tolerance for suffering, where a company offers customers the opportunity to virtually connect to a simulation of their own lives where they can erase every painful memory, leaving only happiness.

Flores (Money Heist) plays a successful singer and influencer who wakes up in a life that she does not recognise and, with the help of a mysterious stranger, must unravel the puzzle of her new existence and uncover the company’s ulterior motives.

The show is created by Manuel Burque and Rodrigo and will be executive produced by Flores alongside Morena Films’ Pedro Uriol.

Upgrade Productions was founded by co-presidents Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier and launched last year in partnership with German production firm Constantin Film to source, develop and produce premium local-language film and series for global audiences.

The company recently hired former Luma Pictures and Bron Ventures exec Akshay Mehta as exec VP, content strategy and business development and Protagonist Pictures alum Vanessa Saal as exec VP, production and distribution.

“Ulterior is a chilling and complex science fiction story and to be working with the talented Alba Flores is a dream come true. Manuel Burque and Alex Rodrigo have crafted a visionary and timely thriller and we’re excited to bring their distinct and authentic voices forward,” said Brodlie and Kier in a joint statement.