Nakata was born in Okayama, Japan. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as Ring, Dark Water. Several of these were remade as The Ring, Dark Water, The Ring Two. Nakata later pulled out. Nakata made his initial breakthrough with Ghost Actress. Although failing to attain any large-scale success, the film was responsible for leading to his directing of Ring. Other Nakata films include Sleeping Bride; Curse, Death and Spirit; and Chaos. He directed The Incite Mill which premiered on 16 October 2010 in Japan. He has now completed Kaidan. Nakata is currently working on Hearn, about the life of Lafcadio Hearn who wrote Kwaidan. He is represented by United Talent Agency. His Chatroom was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.