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.

Estes was a theatre major at the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[1] After that, he went to film school at AFI.^[1] 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.^[1][2] Estes turned Mean Creek into a screenplay, which became his feature film debut as writer and director in 2004.^[3] 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.^[4] His second film as writer/director came with the 2011 film The Details,^[5] which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival^[6] 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.

Estes is married to musician Gretchen Lieberum.^[1]