Michael Mahonen was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada, gold mining town in Northern Ontario. He graduated from George Brown Theatre School in 1989. In 2004 he wrote, directed and co-produced "Sandstorm" a feature based on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Sandstorm won 29 awards including 11 for Best Feature or Best of Festival as well as awards for Best Director, Best First Feature and Best Actress. Seven of the awards are among the festivals listed on IMDB's specific list of certified festivals, although attempts to update the listed number have not been successful.Michael has won Canada's national Gemini Award for "Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Movie or Mini-Series" as well as receiving three other acting nominations for the Gemini.Michael has also written, directed, story boarded, done animatic, sound, music editing, environment design, artistic direction and composition and vocals for two pilot episodes of a 3D animation series called "If Mountains Could Speak".