Jacob Aaron Estes (born September 6, 1972) is an American screenwriter and film director known for his films Mean Creek, The Details and Don't Let Go.
Career Estes was a theatre major at the University of California, Santa Cruz. After that, he went to film school at AFI. Estes also attended the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, which produced two of his plays, Free Lessons and Mean Creek. Estes turned Mean Creek into a screenplay, which became his feature film debut as writer and director in 2004. In his first offering as writer-director, he gained critical acclaim, receiving nominations at various film festivals and winning the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.
His second film as writer/director came with the 2011 film The Details, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and stars Tobey Maguire, Laura Linney, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert, Kerry Washington, and Elizabeth Banks. In 2019, Estes co-wrote and directed the Blumhouse thriller Don't Let Go starring David Oyelowo and Storm Reid.
Personal life Estes is married to musician Gretchen Lieberum.
Filmography Year Film Director Writer Producer Notes 2001 Summoning Short film 2004 Mean Creek John Cassavetes Award winner 2005 Nearing Grace 2011 The Details 2014 7 Minutes 2015 Bromance Special thanks 2017 Rings Co-wrote with David Loucka and Akiva Goldsman 2019 Don't Let Go 2022 He's Watching
References
External links
AFI Movie Club interview AllMovie