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Jason Somerville

Specialty

Character-driven dramas that blur the line between perception and truth.

Bio
Built on sharp, intimate storytelling that pulls at the seams of familiar narratives, Somerville’s work lives in the grey space between what’s seen and what’s real. His films don’t announce their twists — they reveal them quietly, inviting the audience to question what they thought they understood. Through textured dialogue, deliberate pacing, and a subversive edge, he crafts stories where power shifts in silence and judgement becomes part of the plot. The result is cinema that unsettles as much as it moves — intelligent, emotionally grounded, and impossible to shake.
Brisbane, Australia
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Some of my Scripts

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Telos

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

An austere, procedural unmasking that builds tension through access, contracts, and quiet rooms instead of set pieces, anchoring the sci‑fi in mundane bureaucracy and a humane mentor‑protégé tether, culminating in a morally exacting, character‑driven endgame.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: The concept of a facility that extracts and sells children's potential, raising ethical questions about exploitation.
  • Plot Twist: The revelation that Emma Reeves, a victim of the operation, is the daughter of Frank Morrison, intertwining personal and professional stakes.
  • Innovative Idea: The use of memory extraction and its implications on identity and morality, creating a thought-provoking narrative.

C R R HR R

TELOS - PILOT

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

Rather than treating transferred talent as superpower wish fulfillment, the pilot embeds it in state-school equity programs, consumer wellness language, corporate procurement and a risk-scored newsroom, turning speculative technology into an intimate reckoning with guilt, privilege and institutional complicity.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: A man discovers his conscience was extracted as a child, and he must decide whether to reclaim it or return others' extractions, erasing his own identity.
  • Plot Twist: The storage facility is a front for a secret extraction program, and Marcus's own past is tied to the murder of Emma Reeves.
  • Distinctive Setting: A hidden underground facility with glowing orbs containing extracted human potential, contrasted with a gritty Brisbane newsroom and a quiet bar.

R R R HR R

TELOS - PILOT

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

A restrained near-future Australian conspiracy thriller that treats human vocation as both a commodity and a moral wound, turning one man's professional guilt into an impossible conflict between personal restoration and collective repair.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: A man discovers his potential was extracted as a child and must choose between reclaiming it or sacrificing himself to free others.
  • Plot Twist: Marcus's own extraction footage reveals he was the first living child subjected to the program, and his daughter's happiness was built on his stolen potential.
  • Distinctive Setting: A hidden underground facility beneath a storage unit, filled with glowing orbs containing stolen human potential.

R C R R R

Telos

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

The speculative premise unfolds as a quiet Australian guilt thriller, turning ordinary habits, an old murder, and a dead scientist's surveillance into evidence of a life shaped by an invisible absence. Its moral pressure comes not from destroying the system but from forcing the protagonist to choose how much responsibility he is willing to inherit.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: A man inherits a storage facility that holds extracted childhood potentials, forcing him to confront his own stolen abilities and the ethical nightmare of a system that sells futures.
  • Plot Twist: The woman Marcus wrote about and whose death he feels guilty for is revealed to be Frank Morrison's daughter, linking his personal failure to the system's creator.
  • Plot Twist: Marcus's ex-wife is now married to Callum Ford, the financier of the facility, and he has been unknowingly watching his daughter through a fake social media account.

C R R HR C

Telos

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UNIQUE SELLING POINT

A speculative conspiracy unfolds through estate law, corporate records and restrained moral interrogation rather than action spectacle, connecting one man's private guilt to a class system that converts poor children's futures into advantages for wealthy families.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: A facility that extracts and sells children's potential (talent, ambition) to wealthy families, with the protagonist discovering his own was stolen as a child.
  • Plot Twist: Marcus learns that Frank Morrison, the man who extracted his potential, is also the father of Emma Reeves, the woman whose death Marcus inadvertently caused.
  • Plot Twist: The RETURN_ALL protocol will destroy Marcus's own identity because his extracted potential is flagged as incompatible, forcing him to choose between saving others and losing himself.

R C R C C
Crime Drama Thriller Romance Mystery

WHITE LIES_EPISDOE 1_PILOT_JASON SOMERVILLE

An ambitious undercover cop with a talent for performance takes on a dangerous new identity to infiltrate a drug network—only to find the role he’s playing is safer, and more seductive, than the man he left at home. When a stolen laptop and a growing romance collide with the job, he must choose which lies to keep.

Crime Drama Thriller
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An ambitious undercover cop with a talent for performance takes on a dangerous new identity to infiltrate a drug network—only to find the role he’s playing is safer, and more seductive, than the man he left at home. When a stolen laptop and a growing romance collide with the job, he must choose which lies to keep.

Crime Drama Thriller Romance Mystery
Audience Emotional Journey
Writing Craft Metrics

UNIQUE SELLING POINT

A fresh take on the undercover cop genre set in 1990s Australia, exploring the psychological toll of maintaining dual identities while navigating the blurred lines between police work and criminal infiltration, with the unique twist of the protagonist having to pose as bisexual to maintain his cover.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: The protagonist's dual identity as both a police officer and an undercover agent navigating the criminal underworld.
  • Plot Twist: The revelation that Jason's informant, Vlad, may turn against him, heightening the stakes of his undercover operation.
  • Character Development: Jason's internal struggle with his identity and the impact of his undercover work on his personal relationships.

R C R R R
Drama Romance Comedy

First Impressions

When a confident young woman meets an older, lonely investor for a staged 'sugar-date' in a high-end restaurant, the social chorus judges them both — until a provocative act of agency upends expectations and forces everyone to reconsider who is performing for whom.

Drama Romance Comedy
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When a confident young woman meets an older, lonely investor for a staged 'sugar-date' in a high-end restaurant, the social chorus judges them both — until a provocative act of agency upends expectations and forces everyone to reconsider who is performing for whom.

Audience Emotional Journey
Writing Craft Metrics

UNIQUE SELLING POINT

The screenplay's unique selling proposition lies in its masterful subversion of the 'sugar dating' trope, transforming what appears to be a transactional encounter into a nuanced exploration of loneliness, perception, and unexpected connection. The final power reversal where Sienna pays and leaves her lingerie as a 'prize' completely reframes the entire narrative, offering fresh commentary on gender dynamics and social expectations.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: The subversion of traditional dating roles, with Sienna taking control of the payment and leaving a provocative item.
  • Character Dynamics: The evolving relationship between Sienna and Scott, showcasing both flirtation and vulnerability.
  • Social Commentary: The voice-over chorus providing societal judgment adds a unique narrative layer.

R C C R R
Crime Thriller Drama Mystery

White Lies - Short Film

A rookie undercover cop fakes a limp and plants a recorder to extract a murder confession, only to find the danger is intoxicating — and that the thrill may cost him everything.

Crime Thriller Drama
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A rookie undercover cop fakes a limp and plants a recorder to extract a murder confession, only to find the danger is intoxicating — and that the thrill may cost him everything.

Audience Emotional Journey
Writing Craft Metrics

UNIQUE SELLING POINT

The unique selling proposition is the psychological exploration of an undercover officer's dangerous attraction to the thrill of deception, combined with the high-stakes cat-and-mouse game between a seemingly innocent suspect and a charismatic murderer. The script stands out by focusing on the psychological transformation of the protagonist rather than just the procedural elements.

STANDOUT FEATURES

  • Unique Hook: The protagonist's undercover role as a means to gather evidence against a dangerous criminal while grappling with personal fears.
  • Plot Twist: The revelation of Jason's true identity and his covert mission, which adds layers to his interactions with Mercer.
  • Character Dynamics: The mentor-mentee relationship between Jason and Cass, highlighting the emotional stakes of undercover work.