Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Jonathan Liebesman was always interested in the arts and dreamed of someday working in the film industry. After high school, he attended the South African School of Film and Drama before moving to the U.S. to study at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While at the prestigious university, Jonathan wrote and directed the award winning short film Genesis and Catastrophe based on Roald Dahl's short story. His short thesis film won top awards at both the Hollywood Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival and has been used as a teaching tool at his alma mater.

In 2003 he directed his first feature film, Darkness Falls, for Revolution /Sony Studios which debuted at #1. The film was nominated for Best Horror/Thriller at the Teen Choice Awards, while the film's star, Emma Caulfield (Caitlin Greene), won Face of the Future from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films that year.

Liebesman's next film, Rings, which he co-wrote with Ehren Kruger, was a short that garnered high praise from fans of both feature length films, The Ring and The Ring 2, as it offered an insightful transition between the two movies.

Producer Michael Bay hand picked Jonathan to direct Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning for New Line.