hris Sparling wrote the 2010 film Buried starring Ryan Reynolds, for which he won "Best Original Screenplay" from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. His Black List script, ATM, was produced by Gold Circle Films and released by IFC Films in 2012. His feature directing debut, the supernatural thriller The Atticus Institute, was released in early 2015 by Universal Pictures. The Sea of Trees, which he wrote and produced -- starring Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts, and directed by Gus Van Sant -- was nominated for the Palm d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and contributed to his selection to Variety's annual list of "10 Screenwriters to Watch." After adapting the novel Down a Dark Hall for Temple Hill and Lionsgate Films, he is now adapting Land of the Living for Broad Green Pictures. His latest film Mercy, which he wrote and directed for Netflix, was released in 2016, and he will produce the film Bed Rest for MGM in 2017.