Released in 2019 on Netflix, the SF film Code 8 was financed via a crowdfunding system.
A few years ago, Netflix acquired the rights to the low-budget film Code 8. The latter has the particularity of having been entirely financed via a crowdfunding system. In other words, those who wanted to support the project could donate the amount they wanted, in exchange for a small gift.
Code 8 takes place in a world where 4% of the population is born with supernatural powers, and where these people are discriminated against and relentlessly hunted down, an ex-thug and a drug dealer with the gift of telekinesis team up to put end a dangerous network of criminals.
Originally a short film
The idea for this feature film came from a trio: director Jeff Chan and two cousins Stephen Amell and Robbie Amell. The latter previously worked on a first short film of around ten minutes, with the aim of showing it to producers.
They will finally turn to crowdfunding by launching a campaign via the Indiegogo site. The trio will raise no less than 2 million dollars in one month, much more than the 200,000 greenbacks requested at the start.
Netflix
The arrival of Code 8 in the Netflix catalog in many territories will provide a nice spotlight on the project. Without being rave, the reviews are pretty good. The press is intrigued by this low-budget sci-fi film and the spectators are hooked with the universe. The feature film is even a hit in several countries, including France.
A series, then a sequel
This success is closely followed by several platforms, including the new entrant on the market, Quibi. Jeff Chan and the Amell cousins then signed a contract with the company to produce and develop a Code 8 series. But the closure of the SVOD service a few months later put an end to the project.
The rest, we know it. Netflix regains control of the franchise and offers the team to develop not a series but a film. Code 8 part 2 arrives on the platform on February 28, three years after filming. In this sequel, an ex-criminal enlists the help of a drug lord he hates to protect a teenage girl from a corrupt cop.