Lieberstein grew up in Westport, Connecticut, the son of Judith and Stanley Lieberstein. He is Jewish. He attended Staples High School where he wrote his first sitcom with some friends and played the vibraphone in band. He would follow that by attending Hamilton College where he joined Chi Psi and graduated in 1989 with a major in economics. Lieberstein wrote references to the fact that Office character Andy Bernard was a Chi Psi from Cornell into the storyline of several episodes of the show. Lieberstein moved to New York City after graduation where his first job was as an auditor at Peat Marwick International, a job that only lasted six months. He followed that with part-time work in his father's law firm, "working as little as could so could write."
Career
Lieberstein and a writing partner got an agent with William Morris and moved to Los Angeles, living just off Hollywood Blvd. He landed his first writing job on Clarissa Explains It All, but was fired after one season when he and his writing partner split up. Lieberstein went on to have short stints in a few other writer rooms like Weird Science and The Naked Truth before his brother-in-law Greg Daniels asked him to join the King of the Hill staff. Lieberstein served as a co-executive producer for 25 episodes in Season 6 of The Drew Carey Show, and also served as a supervising producer for two episodes in that season: the season opening "Drew Pops Something on Kate", and "Buzzie Wuzzie Liked His Beer." Lieberstein also worked as producer on the third and final season of the television drama seriesThe Newsroom. In November 2017, it was announced that Lieberstein was replacing Kevin Etten as showrunner of the television showGhosted. He wrote and directed his first feature film Song of Back and Neck in 2018 which made it into Tribeca Film Festival. On April 3, 2020 he announced plans for a sitcom about office life while isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
''The Office''
On June 12, 2008, Variety magazine reported that he would become one of the executive producers of The Office. Lieberstein worked in the writer's room from the start of the US adaptation and was asked by Greg Daniels to act as well, as Greg wanted some of the writers to know what it was like on the other side of the camera. Lieberstein has said he "attended 'The Office' acting school" and was often thrown by Steve Carell's improv during scenes. On March 22, 2012, it was announced that Lieberstein would step down from his showrunner role to focus on a planned spin-off series featuring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, which was tentatively called The Farm and Lieberstein was set to be the showrunner. However, in October 2012, it was announced that NBC was not accepting the spin-off series. In a SuicideGirls interview, Lieberstein noted that "as an actor, which is just a very small percentage of me, I don’t feel Toby while I’m writing. It’s the hardest of the characters to access." In an interview for his alma mater, Hamilton College, Lieberstein commented on the bigger picture:
Personal life
Lieberstein's sister Susanne is the current president of programming for YouTube Premium, and she is married to screenwriter and producer Greg Daniels. His brother, Warren Lieberstein, was married to his co-star Angela Kinsey. His cousin is Paul Faust, on whom the character "Cool Guy Paul" was based, as seen in The Office episode "Chair Model." Lieberstein was married for a second time, to Janine Serafin Poreba, on July 19, 2008, at the New York City restaurant Battery Gardens. They reside in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Lieberstein has served on the advisory board of directors for Young Storytellers, an arts education nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles.
Awards
Lieberstein's first Emmy Award was as a producer, sharing a 1999 Emmy for "Outstanding Animated Program " for his work in King of the Hill. Lieberstein's work on The Office has resulted in numerous awards. In June 2007, Lieberstein shared in a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Broadband Program – Comedy", for his work on The Office: Accountants webisodes. As an actor, Lieberstein shared in a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series"; as a writer, he shared a 2006 Writers Guild of America Award for the series, in addition to a WGA Award nomination for "The Coup". As co-executive producer, he shared a 2006 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series". Lieberstein received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Hamilton College on May 22, 2011.
