He has frequently collaborated with several film directors, most notably Steven Soderbergh, as well as directing himself, having overseen projects such as Criminal (2004), Wind Chill (2007) and Magic Mike XXL (2015).

[3] During a hiatus from the school in 1986, he worked as an assistant director to John Sayles on the independent film Matewan.

[5][6] In 2004, Jacobs released Criminal, his first feature film as a director, which he also wrote the script and helped produce.

[10][12] For his involvement as one of the producers of Behind the Candelabra, Jacobs won an Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, which he shared along with Jerry Weintraub, Susan Ekins and Michael Polaire.

[13] The same year, he was also the recipient of the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series,[14] as well as the PGA Award, Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television.