Nikolay Boikov Iliev, professionally known as Niki Iliev, was born in 1981 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He holds a Master's degree in film directing and acting, which he received in 2011 from the New Bulgarian University, where he showcased his feature film "Say Hello to Daddy" (80 minutes).
Throughout his career, Iliev has appeared in numerous American, Italian, Russian, German, French, and Bulgarian movies and TV series as an actor. He made his professional directorial debut with the film "The Foreigner" in 2012, which became the most-watched and highest-grossing Bulgarian film in 2012 and 2013.
In 2013, Iliev directed 12 episodes of the sitcom "House Arrest" on bTV, a TV station owned by Time Warner. His second feature film, "Living Legends," was released in February 2014 and instantly topped the Bulgarian box office, becoming the most-watched and highest-grossing Bulgarian film in 2014 and 2015.
"Living Legends" was voted the 11th favorite Bulgarian movie of all time by the viewers of the Bulgarian National Television, and it remains the highest-rated film made after 1989. Since 2015, Iliev has been teaching film directing at the New Bulgarian University.
Iliev directed 25 episodes of the Bulgarian TV drama series "Dear Heirs" for primetime bTV in 2016-2017, followed by directing 10 episodes of the primetime comedy series "Policemen Out of Town" for Nova TV in 2017-2018. He also directed the first and second seasons of the mystery drama web series "The Closet" in 2018, in which he played the role of Damyan.
Iliev's third feature film as a director, writer, and producer, "All She Wrote," won awards at film festivals in Paris, New York, and Rome in 2018. He directed and acted in the third season of "The Closet" in 2019, and his fourth feature film, "Reunion," was the highest-grossing Bulgarian film in 2019.
In 2020, Iliev directed 20 episodes of the crime drama "Brothers" for Nova TV.
