Hamilton writer of popular Netflix sequel Code 8 on what it was like to film in his hometown

The new Netflix movie Code 8 Part II is set in the fictional Lincoln City, but some of the millions of viewers who have streamed it in its first few days may recognize Ontario on the screen.

The film was shot in a few cities in the province, including Hamilton, whose history helped inspire the fictional setting, said co-writer and producer Chris Paré.

Like Hamilton, Lincoln City experienced a post-industrial slump that brought poverty to working-class neighbourhoods. That’s a familiar story for Paré because he grew up here and has family who worked for the big steelmakers, Stelco and ArcelorMittal Dofasco. 

“I definitely saw the change in the city,” he said. “It made a ton of sense to shoot a lot of it in Hamilton for that very reason. … Hamilton was definitely a major influence on where we want to set this movie.”

The sci-fi action sequel began streaming on Feb. 28. According to Netflix, the film was the streamer’s most-watched English movie in the world as of March 3, with 20 million views, surpassing the first film’s 7.8 million. 

Like the first film, which came out in 2019, it follows Connor, a young person with superpowers. He’s one of about four per cent of the population with special abilities. While once prized as workers, people like him are marginalized and oppressed. Living in poverty, Connor gets involved in crime to help pay for his mother’s healthcare. 

WATCH | How Hamilton’s industrial legacy inspired Code 8

Movie started as a short film

Paré met Code 8 Part II director Jeff Chan while working as an agent in the industry, shortly after studying at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.

“We just had similar tastes and wanted to make cool, exciting stuff,” Paré told CBC Hamilton from the Toronto office of his longtime visual effects collaborator, a company called Playfight, which worked on Code 8 and the sequel.

One day, Chan shared an idea for what would become their 2016 short film Code 8, which served as a teaser for the eventual first feature, which was released on Netflix in 2020. One of the goals, Paré said, was to work with friends and make the movie locally. 

They cast his friend and hockey teammate Robbie Amell, and would later cast Robbie’s cousin Stephen Amell in the feature-length film. The Amells are Canadian actors well known for their roles playing DC superheroes on TV; Robbie was Firestorm in The Flash and Stephen played Green Arrow on Arrow. 

“It began with a cool short film, not because of the Amells,” Stephen Amell told CBC Radio show Commotion. “We asked a lot of people on faith and I think we delivered.”

Netflix pushed for a sequel

The team crowdfunded the movie, starting with a campaign goal of $200,000 but eventually raising $2.4 million. “I don’t think we could do it again. … This was lucky,” Robbie Amell told Commotion. 

When the first movie came out on Netflix, it made it onto the company’s lists of most-watched movies around the world. Paré said it’s hard to put how he felt into words. “It feels like you made it.” 

After its success, Netflix acquired the rights to the sequel, but “let us still do it our way,” Paré said, by keeping production local. “You don’t necessarily have to go to Hollywood. … The talent is here.”

In a Netflix report on the film’s production, the company wrote the movie featured an all-Canadian cast and nearly all-Canadian crew. It added that Canadian labour made up over 99 per cent of total labour costs. Over 97 per cent of non-labour spending went to Canadian vendors. 

Stelco lands, Liuna Station, Auchmar Manor featured

The sequel was filmed in Ontario from October to December 2021. Netflix said a third of production time was spent in Toronto’s Main and Danforth area. Locations also included the former maximum-security prison Kingston Penitentiary. There were also shoots in Hamilton. 

“One of my favourite action pieces in the movie was right at Stelco under this little overpass,” Paré said. “My dad worked there many years ago and to be able to shoot something there feels really special.”

“Hamilton just seemed to have so many different unique looks all within a close proximity to each other,” he said. 

Liuna Station near West Harbour GO Station doubled as Lincoln City’s courthouse, and after seeing Auchmar Manor House, the filmmakers were inspired to write in a scene there, with the historic property becoming an abandoned orphanage the characters hide out in. 

Paré said he also enjoyed flying over Hamilton in a helicopter to get aerial shots they used when depicting aerial drones patrolling Lincoln City. “I got to fly over Hamilton in every direction looking all over the city,” he said. 

What’s next for Paré

Paré said that with Code 8, he and Chan wanted to make a movie they wanted to watch. “We love all the Marvel stuff. It’s great, but it’s so big. The world is at stake. Cities are falling.”

They wanted to take a more “street-level approach,” drawing viewers in with characters they could relate to, he said.

The filmmakers also wanted to explore ideas such as how technology has influenced policing. 

Paré said he is now working on other films including an indie comedy, some of which was shot in Hamilton. 

He’s also excited to see what other doors Code 8 might open. “We always talk about making a third one. We’d love to do that.”