Photos of Kiefer Sutherland Presenting at the 3rd Annual Shorty Awards in New York

Kiefer Sutherland Presenting at the 3rd Annual 

Shorty Awards in New York March 28, 2011

Photo Credit: www.kiefersutherland24.com

Source: KieferSutherland24/Facebook

Kiefer Sutherland on Why His New Web Only Drama is the Future of TV

'The best creative experience of my career': 24 star Kiefer Sutherland on why his new web- only drama is the future of TV

The actor appears alongside John Hurt in The Confession, a new ten-part series which can be viewed online from today in five to nine-minute 'webisodes'

By JANE MULKERRINS
Last updated at 7:24 PM on 28th March 2011

Kiefer Sutherland today launches his first television series since 24, and this time, the man who played government agent Jack Bauer, is tackling a new challenge: digital distribution on the internet.

The Confession, which will be aired online only, for free, via the website hulu.com, premiered last night at New York’s Crosby Street Hotel. 

Sutherland, the 45 year-old actor who is also the creator and executive producer of the series, called the show: ‘The most unique project I have ever been involved with, and one of the greatest creative experiences I have had in my career’. 

All-star cast: John Hurt (left) and Kiefer Sutherland (right) 

at a screening of their new web-only drama, The Confession, 

in New York last night

‘The internet is the largest network in the world and offers phenomenal access to an audience. We can easily access a hundred million people in the blink of an eye,’ Sutherland told MailOnline. 

‘I liken the internet to the fastest racehorse in the world, which no one has figured out how to put a saddle on it yet. I hope we will be part of the much larger group of people trying to do just that.’

 

The ten-part series, in which Sutherland plays a hit man, apparently untroubled by his conscience, is divided into so-called ‘webisodes’. 

The first three episodes are available to download today, and the remaining seven will be delivered in weekly instalments. 

‘When I started working, there were only three television networks in the United States, then there were four, and now there’s 500,’ said Sutherland. 

‘Thanks to that level of competition, the quality has got better, and having television available on the internet can only make it better still.’

High-quality: Sutherland plays a hit man in The Confession, 

which was created with the same level of talent as a big screen production

The series co-stars veteran British actor John Hurt, as the priest whom Sutherland forces to hear his confession. 

‘It’s terrifically exciting - making something directly for the internet is a completely new concept,’ said the 71 year-old star of films including The Elephant Man and Midnight Express. ‘It really is breaking new ground’.

Contrary to his co-star Sutherland, Hurt was, however, scornful of the state of television today. 

‘Television is out of the window,’ he said. ‘Apart from HBO, you can forget about the rest of it completely.’

Hurt, whose small screen CV includes roles as Alan Clark in the BBC’s Alan Clark Diaries, and Quentin Crisp in the 1975 ITV classic, The Naked Civil Servant, said: ‘Television has nothing to offer, no great people to offer any more. It is just hopelessly inadequate people running an inadequate business.’

Unlike a traditional television series, The Confession is told in shorter chapters, of between five and nine minutes in length. Maura Mandt, one of the show’s producers, said this was an advantage offered by internet distribution.

‘One of the great things about this medium is that there isn’t a time limit. Each episode is as long as that story needs to be. It doesn’t have the restrictions of network television, so they can all be different lengths,’ said Mandt.

She also said that The Confession was unusual in its high-quality production. 

‘When you hear the words ‘web series’ or ‘webisode’, it brings to mind certain ideas. We wanted ours to have high production values, to be like something you would see on a big screen.’ 

The web factor: Unlike a traditional television series, 

The Confession is told in shorter chapters, of between 

five and nine minutes in length

Sutherland himself came up with the concept for the show, then drafted in the highly regarded Hollywood scriptwriter Brad Mirman, who penned The Good Shepherd, to write and direct it.

The series was then shot in just seven days in New York, during December’s heavy snow storms. The scenes which take place between Sutherland and Hurt, in the confessional, and which make up half of the entire air-time, were shot in just two days. 

‘It was like doing a play, except that we didn’t get the four weeks rehearsal time,’ said Sutherland, who is currently starring in That Championship Season on Broadway, alongside Chris Noth and Brian Cox.

‘Getting an actor like John Hurt on board was instrumental in making that work.’   

The series was produced by New York-based company Digital Broadcasting Group. The company’s CEO, Chris Young said he believed viewers would embrace the new format.

‘Now that we are all empowered consumers, everything is on demand. I can’t remember the last time I actually tuned in to watch a TV show live,’ he said.

‘We think this is definitely a watershed moment. We are proving that this kind of production can originate online and live online, and it’s really indicative of where we are in 2011, being able to consume programming across all different types of media.’

Source: dailymail 

Kiefer Sutherland Makes Online 'Confession' from Variety

Kiefer Sutherland in Variety Kiefer Sutherland Makes Online Confession 
By: Andrew Wallenstein
Published: Sun, March 27, 2011, 10:01 PM

Kiefer Sutherland refuses to let you miss him.

Though the memory of his run on “24” has barely faded, and the prospect of his return to Fox via drama pilot “Touch” is highly likely, the actor just isn't going to run the risk that his mug might slip your mind.

What other explanation could there for an actor of his stature starring in a mere Web series, right? Beginning Monday on Hulu and elsewhere on the Internet, "The Confession" is a short-form 10-episode series with the kind of star power rarely seen online.

Sutherland plays a merciless hit man whose amoral ways are confronted by a priest (John Hurt) in a conversation inside his confessional. Think "The Phone Booth" crossed with "Collateral."

True, it's not the first time a former primetime fixture has deigned to perform in a webisode. Recall "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow taking a lead role in "Web Therapy," which will be replayed on Showtime later this year.

But as with Kudrow and "Therapy," "Confession" delivers a bigger surprise than just who its star is; the real shock is that the series is actually quite good judging from the three episodes I got to see ahead of their release. 

A nicely produced and scripted webisode is a real rarity, as anyone who follows this woeful genre can tell you. It will be interesting to see whether the online video marketplace has evolved enough to make this a viable enterprise after too many false starts.

"Confession" is produced by Digital Broadcasting Group.

Source: Variety

Kiefer Sutherland & John Hurt at The Confession Screening NY

Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt 

at The Confession Screening 

Crosby Street Hotel New York City March 27, 2011

Source: imageshack.com

Kiefer Sutherland Talks About The Confession To TV Guide

Kiefer Sutherland Compares Killer Role in The Confession to Jack Bauer

Mar 27, 2011 10:21 PM ET
by Robyn Ross

Kiefer Sutherland, The Confession

Throughout the 10-part web series The Confession, Kiefer Sutherland stars as a professional killer in an exploration of good vs. evil.

In each of the 5-minute-to-9-minute episodes, only the wall of a confessional separates Sutherland's character from a priest as he confesses his crimes and flashbacks reveal his journey to becoming a cold-blooded killer seeking redemption.

"[The character] strongly believes the people he's killed deserve it and right there is one of the greatest moral discussions of all time," the former 24  star tells TVGuide.com. "He wants to believe there's good out there and people can change because I think he wants to change."

Sutherland and executive producer Chris Mundy of Digital Broadcasting Group say The Confession rates with anything you'd see on another medium.

"We really tried to make the highest-quality product we could so I would be proud to show this in a theater or on network TV. It's as good as any film I've ever done," Sutherland says. Mundy adds: "It was all about proving that A-list talent, A-list production quality and a script can originate online."

Even John Hurt, who plays the priest, hopped on board despite not having a clue about web series. "I thought, I don't know what you're talking about, [but] we all know that the world of entertainment is constantly changing and so therefore it seemed to make sense," he says.

The Confession debuts Monday on Hulu.com.

Source: tvguide.com

Kiefer Sutherland Photos March 24, 2011

Kiefer Sutherland and Cast 

Before the Play

Source: Plixi

Kiefer Sutherland and Brad Mirman

After the Play

 Source: Pic by Kiefer Twitpic

Source: Pic by BradMirman Twitpic

GET TIX TO THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

Thru May 29, 2011

www.thatchampionshipseason.com

WATCH THE CONFESSION ON HULU

Beginning March 28, 2011

www.hulu.com/the-confession

'The Confession': Behind the scenes of Kiefer Sutherland's online series

By Rick Porter

    

March 22, 2011 8:29 PM ET

Kiefer Sutherland's next series debuts in just a few days -- just not on traditional television.

Sutherland is the star and an executive producer of "The Confession," a web series that debuts Monday, March 28 on Hulu. He plays a hitman who's making a confession to a priest (John Hurt), which is interspersed with flashbacks to some of the bad deeds his character has done.

In the latest behind-the-scenes featurette from the show (which you can see only onZap2it), Sutherland talks about the freedom and the challenges of trying to tell stories in five- to seven-minute episodes. ("The Confession" will run for 10 episodes.)

"What's exciting to me, and also frustrating, about doing something on the Internet, is you're truly limited [only] by your own imagination," he says. "And you don't have to pay for a thing. You just log on and watch it."

Sutherland and writer-director Brad Mirman ("Truth or Consequences, N.M.") also talk about the fact that improvements in technology mean that someone watching on a laptop, tablet or phone will see the series with the same clarity as on a TV set, just a little smaller. "It's not like watching four years ago, these cheesy little videos," Mirman says. "You can do full HD projects."

You can see previous behind-the-scenes clips and a trailer for "The Confession" on Hulu.

Sutherland, currently starring in "That Championship Season" on Broadway, may return to more conventional TV next season. He's set to star in a FOX pilot called "Touch" that will film in the summer, after his run in the play ends. He's also said in interviews this week that a "24" movie is on track to begin shooting early next year.

Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz

Photo/Video credit: Digital Broadcasting Group

Source: zap2it.com

The Confession with Kiefer Sutherland Behind The Scenes Ep4

The Confession Behind The Scenes Video S1 Ep4
Kiefer, along with the cast & crew of The Confession, 
present a preview of this groundbreaking original web series 
and show how unique it really it is.

Source: hulu.com

Dinner With Kiefer Sutherland March 21, 2011

Dinner with Kiefer Sutherland 

March 21, 2011

RealKiefer:Dinner is served! 

Source: Twitpic

RealKiefer: Time to eat. 

Hope you all have a great dinner too. 

See you tomorrow! 

Source: Twitpic

Kiefer Sutherland to Appear at IAB Marketplace Digital Video April 4, 2011

Kiefer Sutherland to Appear at IAB Marketplace - Digital Video 
April 4, 2011 - New York 


Time spent online, on device and on connected TV is growing exponentially, forcing marketers to create content that commands consumer time and attention. The 2011 IAB Digital Video Marketplace addresses the most pressing issues across this vibrant platform by providing insights and expertise to help the ecosystem thrive.


2:00 PM - 2:45 PM

A Fireside Chat with Kiefer Sutherland and Chris Young

Making Big Bets on Branded Content
Madison Avenue has long embraced the value of branded content and now Hollywood is getting into the game. When major talent joins major digital players to create original Web-distributed content, does this equal an unstoppable platform for brands?

Multi Award-Winning Actor Kiefer Sutherland		Chris Young Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Broadcasting Group		Interviewed by: Kevin Pollak Host, Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show

Multi Award-Winning Actor
Kiefer Sutherland
   

Kiefer Sutherland recently starred in the critically acclaimed Fox drama, "24," for which he has won a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and two SAG Awards, for Best Actor in a Drama Series. The show has also won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for “Best Drama”. The eighth and final season of “24” aired on FOX in January 2010. The show has also enjoyed tremendous success overseas, making it one of the top shows airing internationally. “24: Redemption,” a made for television movie that bridges season six and season seven of the television series, aired on November 23, 2008. The television movie was nominated for five Emmy awards, including one for Sutherland for Best Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

Sutherland is currently seen on-stage as “James Daley” in the revival of Jason Miller’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play “That Championship Season.” The play opened on Broadway in March 2011.

Sutherland starred in Dreamworks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens.” He voices the character ‘WR Monger,’ the prison warden of the ‘monsters.’ Other voices in the cast include Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert. The 3D film opened worldwide on March 27, 2009.

Additionally, Sutherland starred in New Regency’s thriller “Mirrors” as a troubled ex-cop who must save his family from an unspeakable evil that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home. The film, which co-stars Amy Smart and Paula Patton, was released on August 15, 2008.

In 2006, Sutherland starred in “The Sentinel” with Michael Douglas and Kim Basinger. Sutherland portrayed Agent Breckenridge, a secret service agent who finds himself caught in the middle of a plot to assassinate the president. The film was directed by Clark Johnson and was released in April 2006.

In 2004, Sutherland starred in the independent film, “The River Queen” opposite Samantha Morton. The film was shot in New Zealand and was directed by Vincent Ward.

In 2003, Sutherland starred in the Warner Bros. film “Taking Lives,” opposite Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. Sutherland also provided the narration in another Warner Bros. film, “NASCAR: The Imax Experience.” The year before, Sutherland starred in the Fox film, "Phonebooth", directed by Joel Schumacher.

Sutherland also starred in the limited release of the World War II drama “To End All Wars.” The screenplay was based on the best-selling book, Through the Valley of the Kwai which is an account of life as a POW in a Southeast Asian prison camp. The film also starred Robert Carlyle, Ciaran McMenarrin and Mark Strong and successfully screened at both the Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals in 2002.

In 1998, Sutherland was seen starring in Showtime’s critically-acclaimed original picture, “A Soldier’s Sweetheart” with Skeet Ulrich and Georgina Cates.

In 1997, Sutherland co-starred with William Hurt and Rufus Sewell in the Newline production, “Dark City.” Directed by Alex Proyas, “Dark City” was a special presentation at the Cannes Film Festival. Sutherland also added his second directorial credit and starred in “Truth or Consequences” for Triumph Films alongside Kevin Pollak, Mykelti Williamson, Rod Steiger and Martin Sheen.

In the 1996 Paramount thriller, “Eye for an Eye,” directed by John Schlesinger, Sutherland portrayed an unremorseful, brutal murderer opposite Sally Field and Ed Harris. Later that summer, he co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey in the screen adaptation of John Grisham’s novel, “A Time to Kill.”

In 1993, Sutherland starred in Touchstone Pictures’ “The Three Musketeers,” based on the classic tale by Alexandre Dumas. The same year, he made his directorial debut in the critically acclaimed Showtime film “Last Light,” in which he starred opposite Forest Whitaker.

Sutherland’s first major role was in the Canadian drama, “The Bay Boy,” which earned Sutherland and director Daniel Petrie, Genie award nominations for best actor and best director, respectively. Following his success in “The Bay Boy,” Sutherland eventually moved to Los Angeles and landed television appearances in “The Mission,” an episode of “Amazing Stories” and in the telefilm “Trapped in Silence” with Marsha Mason.

In 1992, Sutherland starred opposite Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker in Orion Pictures’ “Article 99,” and in Castlerock’s military drama “A Few Good Men,” also starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. Later, in 1994, he starred with Jeff Bridges and Nancy Travis in the American version of “The Vanishing” for 20th Century Fox.

Sutherland’s other film credits include “Flatliners,” “Chicago Joe and the Showgirl,” “1969,” “Flashback,” “Young Guns,” “Young Guns 2,” “Bright Lights, Big City,” “The Lost Boys,” “Promised Land,” “At Close Range,” and “Stand By Me.”

Sutherland resides in Los Angeles.

Chris Young
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Digital Broadcasting Group

Chris Young, a serial entrepreneur and 10-year veteran of the video advertising space, is the Chairman & CEO of Digital Broadcasting Group (DBG), one of the top online video distribution networks that specializes in the production and distribution of original branded video content across the Web and other emerging platforms. As CEO, Chris oversees the strategic direction and management of DBG’s core business divisions.

Under Chris’ leadership, DBG has emerged as a comScore rated top 5 video network comprised of close to 107 million monthly unique visitors accumulated across 2,600 web properties. Since 2007, DBG has been on the forefront of enabling big-name brands like Infiniti, Hewlett Packard, Ford, Sprint, Mars, the U.S. Air Force, Kimberly Clark, Unilever, and Coca-Cola among others to advance their brands through branded entertainment and original online programming.

Prior to starting DBG in 2007, Chris Young co-founded online video advertising and management solutions company Klipmart in 1999 and grew it into the nation’s largest video rich media vendor taking advertiser’s TV commercials and putting them online. In 2006, under Chris’ leadership, Klipmart was subsequently sold to now Google-owned DoubleClick. Chris assumed the role of Executive Vice President of Rich Media at DoubleClick, where he worked to accelerate innovation in digital video and emerging advertising formats.

Kevin Pollak
Host
Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show

Kevin Pollak has captured the attention of audiences worldwide with his range of both dramatic and comedic roles. He has appeared in over sixty films, as well as countless television projects, and has established himself as one of the few stand-up comedians to have a successful dramatic film career. In addition to his acting talents, he has also proven himself as both a writer, producer and recently a director and a talk show host.

Pollak first started performing stand-up comedy at the age of ten. He became a touring professional stand-up at age twenty. In 1988, shortly after Kevin shot his first HBO stand-up special, he landed a role in “Willow,” directed by Ron Howard and produced by George Lucas. In 1989, he got his first dramatic acting role in Barry Levinson’s “Avalon”, but it was Pollak’s role in Rob Reiner’s “A Few Good Men,” opposite Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, that proved his ability to stand out while sharing the big screen with dramatic heavyweights. Not too soon after, Kevin was co-starring with icons Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in “Grumpy Old Men” and its’ sequel, “Grumpier Old Men”. In 1994, Kevin was offered a plum role opposite Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacy and Bennicio Del Toro in a little indy film called “The Usual Suspects” for director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie. The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and won two Academy Awards, as well as the Best Ensemble Cast award from The National Board of Review. That same year, the call came from Martin Scorsese for Kevin to join Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesce and Sharon Stone in his Vegas epic, “Casino.” The film has become known as one Scorsese’s classics.

As the 20th century came to a close, Variety named it’s top 10 hardest working film actors, the criteria of which was that said actors had to have done at least 3 films per year, each year of the 1990's. Kevin was on the list.

As the millennium began, Kevin returned to his first love, stand-up comedy. He began touring the country in ’01 and continues to tour sporadically here and abroad. Of course, his film career continued as he has co-starred in 29 films since 2000.

In March of 2009, Kevin began hosting his own internet talk show, called Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show. It streams live every Sunday, 3pm, PDT at http://www.Kevinpollakschatshow.com. Archived episodes are available there, as well as on iTunes. The show has garnered as much as over a million downloads in a single month and received the 2010 Streamy Award for Best Live Production of a Web Series.

Also in ’09, Pollak co-starred in Kevin Smith’s “Cop Out,” with Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, Sean William Scott for Warner Bros. In 2010 Kevin co-starred with Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi and James Caan in George Gallo’s “Middle Men”. In post production is “Columbus Circle,” which Kevin wrote with the film’s director, George Gallo. This film stars Jason Lee, Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Giovanni Ribisi and Kevin. He just finished co-starring with Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson in the “The Big Year” for director David Frankel (“The Devil Wears Prada”), which is due out in October, 2011. He’s also recently completed work on “Red State,” written and directed by Kevin Smith.

As a producer, current projects are: the film version of the New York Times Bestseller “Three Nights In August,” written by Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger (“Friday Night Lights”) and St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa and he has the life rights to boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard. Kevin, Tony, Buzz and new partner Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thorton have spent the last year developing the screenplay.

As a director, a new comedy web series “Vamped Out” recently debuted online. Kevin co-created and co-wrote the series with Jason Antoon, which earned rave reviews such as “Curb Enthusiam for the undead” and “Arrested Development” for the web.” Season 2 has been green lit and shooting is scheduled to begin in the spring.

Pollak has also starred in two of his own HBO stand-up comedy specials, the latest being “Kevin Pollak, Stop With The Kicking”, directed by David Steinberg. Kevin was named by Comedy Central as one of the Top 100 Comedians of all Time. His two Live Stand-Up CDs, “A Little Off the Top” and “What Are the Chances” are available at Kevinpollak.tv or on iTunes.

Kevin’s latest One Hour Stand-up Comedy Special, “The Littlest Suspect,” debuted in the summer of 2010 on Showtime.

LEARN MORE ABOUT IAB HERE: http://www.iab.net/events_training/2011/digitalvideo/overview
SPEAKERS: http://www.iab.net/events_training/2011/digitalvideo/speakers#cyoung