Born in San Francisco, California, on February 10, 2000, to a trial lawyer and a Cal Berkeley–educated English major, Jack Chase grew up in Marin County, the same enclave that shaped future influences like David Fincher and George Lucas. There, he was introduced to great cinema at an early age. His mother handed him Casablanca—Jack found Mongol. He was five. From that moment, the visual medium became an obsession. By seven, he was drawing and scripting graphic novels; by ten, perfectionism had steered him away from illustration and into screenwriting.

At twelve, he directed his first short film—a Nerf-gun-fueled gang war that went semi-viral among local parents before being memory-holed forever. It was chaotic, hilarious, and probably would've been his first cult classic if he hadn't been forced to delete it.

He spent his early high school years in public school, where the film teacher was asleep at the wheel and the real education came from mixing with every clique—especially the ones your parents warned you about. Eventually transferred to a private Catholic school, Jack fought it at first but ended up finding something close to salvation. It was there he discovered what love felt like, what trust was, and what betrayal looked like up close.

After graduation, things got messy. He drifted through Santa Barbara Community College, more focused on beach parties and co-eds. When the waves of life came crashing, his father brought him back home—and back to basics. Jack took a job at the local movie theater, sweeping floors and daydreaming about the films he’d one day make. By then, he had already drafted early versions of what would become The Schultz Brothers, his upcoming flagship crime trilogy.

Then came COVID. Like many, Jack spiraled. Day trading, gaming, gambling, writing, surviving. In 2022, he left home and tried to find his footing in Santa Monica, then Calabasas, where he passed his insurance licensing exam and started to settle down—until the unthinkable happened. His father, his greatest supporter, took his own life.

What followed was a year of grief, alcohol, chaos, and the kind of behavior that would’ve made Hunter S. Thompson blush. But it ended in rehab. And it was there, amid group sessions and taking care of cats at a local Palm Springs shelter, that Jack started writing prose versions of The Schultz Brothers and Violent Crimes.

Since then, Jack has come back swinging. In less than half a year, he’s written, designed, and published six major works—Immundus, Beat Cop, Overtime, Violent Crimes, Immundus: Remastered and Expanded, and his largest work yet, Made in America—a 630-page mythic crime epic built for Pulitzer consideration in 2026. This holiday season, he’ll follow the seismic release with The Bastard of Taylor’s End, a gothic revenge drama set in an alternate 1602 England.

Jack currently lives in Southern California with his rescue cat, Mulan.