Writer at AFIN

Biography

Jason Somerville is a Brisbane-based writer, director, and producer working under his production company, Loose Thread Films. His work is preoccupied with identity and the roles we perform, the masks we choose, the ones assigned to us, and the ancient philosophical questions underneath both: how much of who we are was ever ours to author. That enquiry runs through crime drama, horror, and quiet character work alike, from the psychological crime series Undercurrent to the science-fiction property Telos, developed in parallel as a feature and limited series, to The Answer, a short film exploring grief and identity through drag performance.

Somerville is the author of the memoir Undercurrent (Big Sky Publishing/S&S) and has completed a second book manuscript. His screen work includes four feature film scripts and a body of short film scripts, three of which he has produced. His writing has been recognised internationally, including a win at the Melbourne International Screenplay Awards for Undercurrent, finalist placements at Melbourne (First Impressions) and the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival (Undercurrent), and further selections, nominations, and semi-finalist honours from the Fade In Awards, Outstanding Screenplays, the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, the Gold Coast Film Festival, and the Very Short Film Festival, among others. He also hosts the podcast Whisper in the Shadows, which has surpassed 60,000 downloads.

A mature-age student at SAE, he brings over 35 years' experience across policing, international tour guiding, and recruitment, fields where understanding people was always his greatest asset, to a body of work that moves easily between prestige drama, elevated genre, and intimate, philosophically grounded storytelling.