Šimon Holý was born in 1994 in Prague. He studied directing of fiction films at FAMU. He founded the company První řada and is a member of the European Film Academy. His feature-length debut Mirrors in the Dark (2021) premiered in Karlovy Vary and went on to screen around the world. The film was nominated for two Czech Film Critics’ Awards, including Discovery of the Year. His second film And Then There Was Love… (2022) premiered in the Proxima Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was nominated for both the Czech Film Critics’ Award and the Czech Lion Award. His third film Hello, Welcome (2024) opened the 50th edition of the Uherské Hradiště Summer Film School. In 2026, his fourth film Chica Checa will be released in cinemas.

Holý regularly performs as a DJ in clubs and at festivals (including Sziget and Rock for People) and has composed music for numerous films and podcasts. For the music he co-composed with Monika Omerzu Midriaková for Olmo Omerzu’s film Winter Flies, he was nominated for a Czech Lion Award by the Czech Film and Television Academy. He was behind the Czech electronic music festival Elekce and has also been the music programmer of the Prague Pride festival for more than five years.

He is a co-creator of the podcasts Poprask (Reflex) and Rant Prostoru (Revue Prostor). In the past, he collaborated with Czech Radio channel Radio Wave as a host of both live broadcasts and the podcast Kompot. For Radio Wave, he also created two scripted audio series, Exams of Life and The Break-Up, both of which became listener hits.