Michael G. Birmingham was born on a farm in Tipperary, Ireland under the family name Conway. At age 2, he was flown to the United States to be adopted into the family of Mary and Michael G. Birmingham, Sr. Michael met his future wife Teresa in Catholic high school in Brooklyn, New York. After college they married and settled down in Roanoke, Virginia, the "Star City." It was here that they had three children, Crista, John and Terese "Tayza" Birmingham. Michael's first foray into film was through executive producing his son John's first feature film Crazy Animal. He also allowed John to film in two of his homes on John's next feature film The Vampires of Zanzibar. Michael made a small cameo in Zanzibar as "Brokeback Mike."