A graduate of the UCLA Film School, Jonathan Dayton is an American director and producer, who works together with his wife Valerie Faris. Born and brought up in California, Dayton completed his graduation from Ygnacio Valley High School and later attended the UCLA Film School. It was during his time at the film school that he met Valerie Faris and later became her husband and business partner. The couple began their work by directing music videos for some of the most popular rock bands of the world such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis, and R.E.M.. In 1996, their video for The Smashing Pumpkins' song "Tonight Tonight" won six MTV Video Music Awards.

A couple of years later, the duo established "Bob Industries", a production house that worked on commercials. Some of the elite brands that the duo worked with include Volkswagen, Sony, Apple Computer, ESPN, and IKEA. Soon, they started receiving offers for feature films as well, however, the couple declined them.

It took five years for the duo to complete their debut directorial feature, the critically acclaimed movie, Little Miss Sunshine (2006): work on the movie had begun in 2001. Upon its release, the movie received critical acclaim and was also nominated in the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards. Their next release was Ruby Kazan which was released in 2012. The duo's 2017 release includes the movie Battle of the Sexes, a biographical comedy drama, loosely inspired by the Tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.