Actor and producer Robbie Amell (Upload, The Flash, Code 8) officially announced a brand-new graphic novel set in the world of the “Code 8” universe during his panel appearance at FAN EXPO Canada. Amell, Chris Paré (writer/producer), and Jeff Chan (director/writer) revealed the next chapter of the franchise, the “Code 8: Tales of Lincoln City” graphic novel, and shared how fans could help bring it to life through the Indiegogo campaign.
Q&A with Robbie Amell at Fan Expo Canada
Suhaila (Temple of Geek): “Code 8” has been a journey! It started off as a short film back in 2016, then in 2019 a feature film, and then last year, part two of that feature film. Tell us about that journey.
Robbie Amell: Yeah, I mean, Jeff, who is the, really the driving force behind “Code 8”, he was like, look, I’m either gonna become a realtor or I wanna make a short film and I want you to be the lead. I’ll put 20 grand in, you put 20 grand in. And then 40 grand each later, we had a short film. And it was just kind of, if we’re not willing to take a chance on ourselves, why should we expect anyone else to? And luckily it was a great short film, it went viral.
And we launched this IndieGoGo campaign and it went well beyond any of our wildest dreams. And we had such an incredible fan base and community come together. And part one was incredible, part two was a giant Netflix movie. And now we’ve done over a million, or over a hundred million accounts across both movies.
Origins of the “Code 8” World
The concept for the “Code 8” universe was developed by Jeff Chan and Chris Pare. Amell noted that when Jeff initially pitched the short film, the details were vague but promised to be really cool. The intention was to create a grounded, character-forward story where the sci-fi elements remained in the background. The central idea was a character driven crime drama exploring the question of how far would someone go to save their mom, a relatable theme for everyone.
Suhaila: How did the story of the world of “Code 8” actually come about?
Robbie Amell: That’s a Jeff and Chris question. They were, when they pitched me a short film, when Jeff pitched me a short film, I was like, what’s it about? I don’t know, but it’ll be really cool. And then he came back and was like, really it was okay. The plan was for me and Steve to do it. And we were like, okay, well, what’s your main fan base? How do we tap into that? But at the same time, we always wanted it to be grounded and have the sci-fi elements be in the background and be character forward.
And we came up with this kind of character driven, well, Jeff and Chris came up with this character driven crime drama and the idea of how far would someone go to save their mom and everyone can relate to that.
The “Code 8” Graphic Novel
The graphic novel, “Code 8: Tales of Lincoln City, Vol 1”, was announced as a way for the fan community to stay involved with the franchise. As the second film was a large Netflix production, crowdfunding wasn’t an option for that. The graphic novel serves as a smaller project to continue to build this world and offer a glimpse into another side of Lincoln City and its characters, including origin stories. Amell also viewed it as a thank you to the fans and an invitation to further participate.
Suhaila: And then the graphic novel now, that’s what you’re announcing today. How did that idea come about?
Robbie Amell: Our fans, our community asks all the time how they can continue to be involved. And part two was a giant Netflix movie. We couldn’t crowd fund any of it, but we figured we wanna make a third movie at some point, but in the meantime, we could do something a little smaller, but to continue to build this world and show people on the other side of Lincoln City, another side of these characters and the kind of read origin story, selfishly, I was a big fan of that. But yeah, it’s just something to continue to build this world and to give to the fans and to say thank you and also say, hey, you wanna do this with us? Let’s go.
Suhaila: Talking about the origin stories, what can you tell us about that? What can fans expect to see in those origin stories? Anything you can tell us.
Robbie Amell: I don’t wanna spoil too much, but it’s showing you, my character, Connor Reed, kind of how he became the man he is, Lincoln City. We go over it a little bit in the opening title sequence of “Code Aide” and the automation and people with powers and how it kind of shaped this city that they live in. I don’t wanna give too much more than that because that’s the whole point of making the graphic novel, but that’s kind of the gist of it.
Canadian Talent in “Code 8”
The inclusion of many Canadian actors like Jean Yoon and Alex Mallory Jr. was a deliberate choice. Amell explained that the films are made with friends and family in Canada. Sung Kang was the only American actor in both movies, having participated in the short film and part one. The team is super proud to be Canadian and films in Toronto and Hamilton, which represent Lincoln City. Their goal is to showcase homegrown Canadian talent, of which there is a significant amount
Suhaila: Awesome. And then also in the movies, there are some incredible Canadian actors. You’ve got Jean Yoon, Alex Mallory Jr. and so many more. Was that an intentional choice?
Robbie Amell: Yeah, I mean, part of it is the way we make these movies is with friends and family in Canada. The only American across both movies was Sung Kang who took a chance on us and did the short film with us and was amazing in part one. But it’s just, we’re super proud to be Canadian. We shoot it in Canada, Toronto and Hamilton is Lincoln City. So, we want homegrown Canadian talent and there’s a lot here, so we’re very lucky.
Amell on his continued work in Sci-Fi
Amell acknowledged that there are thematic similarities between “Code 8”, “The Tomorrow People”, and “Upload”, particularly regarding groups of people being targeted or hunted, and allegories for marginalized communities. He believes in using storytelling to say something without pushing it down people’s throats and making people think. He wants viewers to find characters they can relate to and hopes to encourage people to consider different perspectives.
Suhaila: So shifting a little bit to just sci-fi in general, you’ve done quite a bit of sci-fi stories in your career. What is it about sci-fi that you see coming back?
Robbie Amell: The pay? I don’t know, the, I mean, I think that part of it is just in this business, you kind of take the shots you’re given and I’ve been very lucky to work with great people. They just happen to be across sci-fi projects. I’m a big fan of sci-fi. I’m not really looking for some weird period drama and like my wife would love to do something like that. And it’s not to say I wouldn’t, it’s just not really on the forefront of what I’m looking to shoot. And I just, I like grounded sci-fi, I’m a fan of it. Some of my favorite movies are kind of grounded sci-fi. And yeah, I guess once you get into something like that, it helps to kind of track that fan base.
Suhaila: And there are a couple of sci-fi stories that you’ve done that I’m a really huge fan of. “The Tomorrow People”, “Upload” – they have very similar story lines of there being a group of people that are being hunted for some reason or another, powers, or with uploads, some sort of secret. Is that a particular element that you enjoy or look for in any stories?
Robbie Amell: Yeah, I mean, you’re always, you’re trying to say something without pushing it down people’s throats and make people think when they’re watching something and hide it with some sci-fi and make it so you finish watching the movie. Man, that was really cool. And then an hour later, you’re like, “Huh, that was kind of interesting. I never thought of it that way.” And that’s Jeff and Chris, they’re great writers. And you always wanna find characters that people can see themselves in and relate to what is going on, and hope that you can give people a reason to think one way or another, or change their thinking. And “Code 8,” I always found to be kind of in a gray area. Things weren’t black and white. It was like, you would have two people arguing after watching “Code 8” and being like, “No, I saw it this way. No, I saw it this way. No, he should have let his mom die. No, he shouldn’t have let his…” I think that’s interesting. And I think that makes good storytelling.
“Upload” Series Finale and Future of “Code 8”
Amell briefly discussed the final season of “Upload”. Stating he was glad to have a final season in a series finale that offered closure. Amell also confirmed that a “Code 8” Part 3 is planned, following the success of the first two films. However, it will happen when writers Jeff Chan and Chris Pare are ready, as they bear the brunt of the creative process over several years.
Suhaila: I love that part of it, especially, where you get to kind of have those sort of moral dilemmas and questions that through Sci-Fi, like you were saying, you can explore those with this fantastical element to it, which is awesome. So “Upload”, I have to ask, because I’m a huge fan. Last season is coming out shortly. What are your thoughts?
Robbie Amell: Monday night. Yeah. I love the show. I’m super proud of the show. I love the cast. I love the crew and the creatives behind it. It’s bittersweet because it’s a final season, but it’s really great to have a final season in a series finale. And the series finale gives people closure. And I think one word that I keep hearing back from people who have watched it is that they’re very satisfied with the ending, which I think is…I think that’s actually a great word, because sometimes series finales are tough. A lot of times you don’t get a series finale. So I’m very excited about it. I love the show and I will miss it, but I think it’s a great way to end it.
Suhaila: Yeah, and as fans, that’s all you can ask for. Just a satisfying way for the story to end. And then for “Code 8,” you mentioned part three potentially. What’s up next aside from the graphic novel.
Robbie Amell: Yeah, we wanna do a part three. I mean, part one and part two are wildly successful. It’s just, it’s become a pretty big machine. So when we do part three, you don’t wanna go smaller. So one, two, three, and we’ll get back to it when Jeff and Chris are ready, because really, Steve and I come in and we have a tiny bit of prep, we shoot the movie in tiny bit of post. Jeff and Chris have to live and breathe this thing for several years at a time. So it’s when they’re ready and we’ve got a couple other things going on. So as soon as we can, we’re gonna jump back into it.
The Indiegogo campaign for “Code 8: Tales of Lincoln City” is now. You can support it here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/code-8-tales-of-lincoln-city-from-robbie-amell#/
