Hideo Nakata

 is a Japanese filmmaker born in Okayama on July 19th, 1961. He is best known for directing the 1998 supernatural ghost film Ringu, which achieved cult status amongst horror enthusiests, spinning off into several sequels as well as an American-produced remake series. Hideo's first work in the horror genre was directing the 1992 anthology film Curse, Death and Spirit. He then went on to direct the "Hoken-shitsu" and "Rei Video" segments from the television movie Gakkô no kaidan F in 1997. Following the success of Ringu in 1998, Nakata followed it up with a sequel in 1999 appropriately titled Ringu 2. In 2000, he co-directed Sotohiro with Tsugnuobu Kotani.