Kiefer Sutherland: From CTU Agent to Repentant Hit Man

Kiefer Sutherland is taking a leap from the TV screen to the computer screen with his upcoming webseries, The Confession. Sutherland is the creator and star of the Brad Mirman directed series scheduled to premier in March 2011. The series will also star two-time Academy Award nominee, John Hurt, Michael Badalucco, and Sebastian Beacon. The show consists of ten episodes broadcast over Hulu and is distributed by the Digital Broadcasting Group, distributors of 2010’s Control TV. Other executive producers include Chris Young and Joseph Gomes of DBG and Maura Mandt of Maggie Vision.

The Confession begins on Christmas Eve, when a hit man (Sutherland) visits a priest (Hurt) to confess his sins. Throughout the series, viewers will be taken on a journey of flashbacks revealing what has brought the hit man, thus far simply known as the Confessor, to this place and revealing both characters to be complex and multi-layered. The dramatic ending culminates with a dramatic climax where the man’s chance for redemption hangs in the balance. In the beginning, the series depicts the Confessor and hit man as a cold-blooded killer and the Priest as the source of good and righteousness, but as the series unfolds, both characters are revealed to be different than they appear.

Sutherland describes the series as a culmination of his experiences on the small and silver screens: “This experience that is The Confession has taken everything I have learned over the last 25 years from storytelling to acting and challenged it in a way like no other experience that I’ve had. From five to seven minute episodes, to creating a character that I believe is edgy enough to stand out and make an impression in the vast Internet. In short, I’m having a blast.”

The series is being described as a groundbreaking step in the industry of web television, with new levels of talent, storytelling, and production. “The Confession sets a precedent for what is possible in original webisodic content,” said Chris Young, CEO of Digital Broadcasting Group. “Never before has something of this magnitude and motion picture quality come to the third screen. I’m thrilled to be working with such A-list talent to finally capture and crystallize the seismic shift in how content of this caliber is released, distributed and enjoyed by an audience that will rival that of a hit television series.”

Young approached Kiefer Sutherland with the idea of doing a web drama, but the actor originally had doubts of producing a series in such a unique format. He told EW.com “A drama in five-minute episodes! So I went home that night, still thinking about it, and it stayed with me for three days. I was falling asleep when I literally got this idea of a confessional.” From there the idea grew into a complex storyline that will undoubtedly be a popular series on Hulu this spring and summer.