Imagine having to sacrifice everything to save someone you love. Now imagine trying to do it while that person has been kidnapped by a mysterious organization whose intentions are more sinister than could ever be imagined. In the new sci-fi drama thriller THE DIVISION, a dedicated and loving father is out to reclaim his young son from the clutches of such a shadowy group, and to protect his entire family from their dangerous plans for domination.

Created, written, produced and directed by Eric Won, THE DIVISION’s 10 episode first season recently premiered its fourth episode on its official web site, Youtube, Blip.TV and Hulu pages. The show’s first episode can be viewed at the embedded link located towards the end of this article.

The series has already gained quite a substantial following among viewers, and substantial recognition among industry peers. At the recent IAWTV (International Academy of Web Television) Awards, THE DIVISION was nominated for Best Directing, Best Drama and Best Editing.

The series combines the incredible suspense of such notable thrillers like PRISON BREAK, 24 and LOST with a unique sci-fi element that involves the intriguing concept of Conscious Time Travel.

Furthermore, THE DIVISION takes a distinctively cinematic approach to its structure and storytelling throughout the show’s 10 episodes that makes it stand out from many similar web series. (More on all that ahead.)

The series stars Andrew Bowen (Starz’s MAGIC CITY, ROCK JOCKS, LEVERAGE, MAD TV) as Nick Trever. A devoted husband and father to his young son Jeremy (Tarik Ellinger), Nick is dedicated to his job as a bodyguard for one of the world’s most elite private security companies, but his life is immediately turned upside down when he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the world forever.

That conspiracy is perpetrated by the mysterious, yet powerful entity known only as The Division. Its real purpose is still unknown, but its intentions may be more evil than could ever be imagined. Even worse for Nick, his son is suddenly kidnapped by his friend Chloe (played by Jessica Tomé, THE ROPES, THE FORGOTTEN), an agent who Nick thinks is on his side but ends up being revealed to be working for the enemy.

THE DIVISION’s ensemble cast also includes Thomas Blankenship (EASY RIDER: THE RIDE BACK, ILLEGAL) as John McFadden, a mercenary who joins forces with Nick to search for Jeremy. Unbeknownst to Nick, though, John’s got a past that’s just as shady as his own personal ambitions.

Adding to Nick’s concerns is the unknown status of his wife Michelle (Ivana Shein), who has been presumed dead for some time – and who may play a key role in determining the success of The Division’s dangerous agenda.

Rounding out the cast is Kevin McCorkle (THE ISLAND, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and BEYOND THE MAT) as State Senator Raymond Stanfield, who’s out to become the next leader of the free world and to gain a greater influence within the ranks of The Division.

Finally, Amanda Wyss (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, BETTER OFF DEAD, SILVERADO) plays his wife Helen, who’s all too eager to let the presidential hopeful gain prominence. Yet, she sees greater opportunities that lay far beyond the boundaries of the secret organization she and the Senator inhabit.

Originally developed as a full length feature film comprised of a series of shorts all linked to a common storyline, Won soon realized that his concept would have greater success as an episodic series.

From there, the show’s creator set out to create THE DIVISION as a truly innovative, high concept drama combining action and sci-fi elements to tell a compelling story that does more than bring its viewers thrilling action and suspense. At its heart, THE DIVISION is a human drama about a loving father and husband who will stop at nothing to protect his son, wife and family from destruction.

As Won discusses, it’s that aspect of the series that he hopes will take greater precedence above the intriguing science fiction concept featured in it.

“I intentionally tried to find a high concept for the show and that’s how Conscious Time Travel came about. But I try to focus on the basic drama of a father’s struggle in finding his kidnapped son instead of Conscious Time Travel, which I think makes the concept work even better.”

As series executive producer Trip Hope recalls, he was immediately impressed by the potential and the incredible production quality of THE DIVISION once he saw it after the recent IAWTV Awards ceremony. Before that, though, Hope was equally impressed by Eric Won, and especially with his dedication to making THE DIVISION an outstanding web series that was deserving of all the attention bestowed upon it.

“I first met Eric Won at a cast and crew screening of a feature film I produced at Raleigh Studios. Eric was very outgoing, inquisitive and personable. We kept in touch and then reconnected at The International Academy of Web Television Awards,” he recalls.

Once Hope saw every episode of THE DIVISION for himself, he knew he was in for a truly special web series experience; one that eventually led to Hope being part of its production as its crowd funding campaign approached.

“How would I describe his web series? Powerful, riveting, action-packed, full of great acting, seamless story telling, and great direction. It felt like the new media version of ’24’ and I was hooked immediately,” he says. “So much so, that when I discovered Eric was raising money for future episodes, I contacted him and asked ‘what can I do?’ I wanted to be part of his outstanding creative team.”

That creative team also includes Hope, who executive produced THE DIVISION with Lisa Campbell-McCorkle, Javier Prato and Temera Melek, plus director of cinematography Ray Huang and music composers Gad Emile Zeitune, George Shaw and Pakk Hui.

Along with the outstanding and talented ensemble cast, Won and his entire crew sought to produce THE DIVISION in a truly cinematic fashion that is based entirely in his original goal of creating the series as a full length movie.

During production, that goal was achieved in large part due to the fact that its behind the scenes crew consistently works alongside each other on most of the episodes. For Won, that fact alone has made the otherwise formidable task of shooting the series a lot smoother and more efficient than expected.

“The majority of the key crew are the same on all episodes, which makes the process easier. We know what we want and what we’re going for. We do have the pressure of making the next episode better than the last one which pushes us to do a better job. There’s always something that doesn’t go the way you want or unexpected things but that’s just the part of the game and we just do our best with what we have at the moment,” he says.

Yet, as Won adds, that’s just one of many factors that make THE DIVISION a standout among its web series counterparts. “What sets apart THE DIVISION from the rest of the web series world is our production quality and the cinematic approach to the episodes. We set out to make a great film before we remind ourselves we’re making a web series. Also, our dynamic and fast paced evolving storyline is something that we’re very proud of, along with exceptional performances by our cast.”

Once Hope joined Won and his production team, he saw first hand their dedication and determination as they went forward on bringing each episode of THE DIVISION to life. Even more so, Hope’s admiration and respect for Won and his work as a filmmaker grew.

“Eric, as a director, producer, and writer deserves the best opportunities to develop his filmmaking because he’s already blazing a path full of promise. He’s very skilled at navigating shoe-string budgets without sacrificing quality or story. He talks to his actors in depth until he’s formed an absolute bond of trust. I’ve seen him push actors to get their best performances and he helps them ‘raise the stakes’ to get powerful and fully lived out scenes,” Hope says.

Won’s dedication to bringing out the best of his actors and his production team was another factor that immediately attracted Hope to THE DIVISION. “He’s passionate about his work and uses that passion to get the absolute best actors, crew, equipment and locations. He’s also incredibly meticulous about planning every shot to make sure he gets what he’s after and he’s not afraid to spend all the time necessary to make this series the absolute best,” he adds.

“All of Eric’s films are all very entertaining, full of action, and have the kind of great depth and emotion that easily touch the hearts of his audience. I’m looking forward to making more action-packed entertainment with Eric and THE DIVISION’s incredible cast and crew.”

With THE DIVISION, Won and his entire team strive every day to bring viewers a web series that they will instantly enjoy watching, with characters and drama that they will instantly keep coming back to.

“The most important goal for us is to create the best web series out there. That’s it! We want people to invest in our characters and storyline. We want to leave them wanting more and more. Everything else is secondary,” he says.

Through its characters and story, THE DIVISION proves that no matter how big the obstacles, how long the odds or how long it takes, we all seek to fight for everything and everyone that matters to us. Won believes that his series will do that in spectacular and entertaining fashion. “The message we want to tell is a ‘father’s ultimate sacrifice in saving his family.’ And we’re trying to do this in as entertaining way as possible, for a broad audience, with a storyline that’s filled with action, unexpected twists and turns, and thrills.”

(Note: Regarding closed-captioning, Won says: “All episodes on our YouTube channel have CC for people with hearing difficulties. CC for the latest episode is still in the works.”)

ON THE WEB: www.whatisthedivision.com

YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/whatisthedivision

HULU: www.hulu.com/the-division

BLIP.tv: http://blip.tv/thedivision

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/whatisthedivision

TWITTER: twitter.com/thedivision

GOOGLE PLUS: https://plus.google.com/+Whatisthedivision

Episode 1 of THE DIVISION can be viewed here: