On March 12, 2016, Stephen and Robbie Amell surprised fans at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in Chicago, Ill. with a teaser trailer for a project they were working on together. After a short but elusive introduction, fans were shown a thirty-second clip of Code 8, that ended with the date "March 22, 2016."
March 22 came around, and the Amell cousins launched a crowdfunding campaign to help them turn Code 8 into a feature length film. Their original goal was to raise $200,000 over the course of a month. Within two days, they met that goal. A month later, they closed the campaign with a total $1.5 million raise,d completely through the IndieGoGo account. It may seem like nothing in comparison to the "Veronica Mars" fundraiser that raised $5.7 million in a month, but when you look at all the aspects of it, it's absolutely astonishing.
"Veronica Mars" aired on CW from 2004 to 2007, and continued to carry a strong cult following after it's cancellation. The show's star, Kristen Bell, has moved on to become one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood after landing roles in "Frozen" and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." This fanbase has existed for extended periods of time, and could therefore, accomplish great things!
Stephen Amell's rise to fame came when he was cast as lead role Oliver Queen/The Green Arrow on CW's "Arrow," which premiered in 2012. The show is still currently on air and has paved the way for Stephen's latest role as vigilante Casey Jones in the upcoming blockbuster "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." Robbie Amell appeared in several Disney Channel and ABC Family features, before he, too, landed a lead role in a CW show. "The Tomorrow People" aired for the 2013-2014 season, and then Robbie moved to take a reoccurring role on CW's "The Flash." While both Amell's have grown themselves extremely passionate fan bases, they are primarily known for their work on one of the smallest cable networks there is. This would appear to be a hurdle for their crowdfunding because it would cut off a potential large audience they could drive into.
However, through the use of low-priced incentives like t-shirts, hoodies, DVDs, posters and trips for two to premieres, the Code 8 campaign flourished with small donations. There were also larger incentives that cost a good chunk of change, like the chance to be an associate or executive producer for the film, which many up and coming filmmakers jumped on to help build their resume. Contests for incentives also proved useful, as they offered exciting things like a poster signed by the cast of "The Flash," which went to the first person to pay $1 at a designated time. So while the success of the Code 8 campaign is no surprise to the fan base, it should absolutely be celebrated as a massive success. Congratulations to the Amell family and everyone who pitched in to make this happen.
You can watch the trailer for Code 8 below.
