Simon Holden

Simon was born and raised in Lancashire, in the north of England, gaining his Bachelor of Arts Honors Degree in Graphic Design (Film) in Liverpool. He moved to London in 1979 he found work as a freelance animation artist.

Between 1980 and 1982 he worked at Cucumber Studios, first as an inker and painter, then as post production supervisor on TV commercials and music videos.

In 1982, Simon formed a production company, Moon + Parrot Productions with co-director Keith Graham. Directing visual effects-oriented spots for London advertising agencies including J. Walter Thompson, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann-Erikson and Publicis, Simon honed his skills producing highly complex film opticals combining live action and animation.

Moon and Parrot Productions became The Holden Film Company when Simon bought out his partner in 1986. In this same year, Simon was admitted to the Directors and Producers Association of Cinema and Television Technicians and into the prestigious Design and Art Directors Association of Great Britain for Outstanding 20 Second Television Commercial.

Simon briefly assumed the role of Visual Effects Director with The Frame Store in London in 1988. There he gained hands-on experience with the Quantel Harry, bringing his knowledge of animation and optical processes to the company.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1989, Simon has worked with most of the leading post production houses as a freelance digital effects artist and visual effects supervisor, using the Quantel Harry and Henry.

In 1994 Digital Domain called and Simon graduated to Flame and Inferno compositing systems.

In September 1997, Simon joined Click 3X LA as Senior Digital Compositing Artist and Visual Effects Supervisor.

Simon returned to freelance visual effects work in 1999 and continues to offer freelance visual effects services as a senior lead compositor on Flame/Inferno as well as visual effects supervisor on set.

In 2003 he formed the band XUK.