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Michael Ware is the President/CEO of Penance Films, an independent documentary film company based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and Los Angeles, California, USA.

Prior to forming Penance, Michael was Chief Primetime Foreign Correspondent for CNN, reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, the Republic of Georgia, and Mexico.

Best known for his coverage of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," he lived in Baghdad for most of the war, first writing for
Time magazine (including two cover articles, Into the Hot Zone and Chasing the Ghosts) before moving to CNN in 2006. During his time with the network, he also presented two specials for CNN International, "Pakistan's Vital Vote" and "Iraq: Inside the Surge."

He left the network in 2011 to focus on creating in-depth programming that will examine the war's effect not only on the military sent to Iraq and the civilians unwilling caught up it, but also how it changed the governments and citizens whose policies led to such widespread bloodshed.

Additionally, he has also written columns for
Walkley and Newsweek magazines, and for the website The Daily Beast.

Michael’s first film,
Only the Dead, is a gritty look at his time in Iraq. The world premiere was at the Sydney International Film Festival in June of 2015. The film won Best Documentary at the Festival.

A Brisbane native, Michael holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Queensland, as well as a degree in Political Science.


Earlier Bios:
This is a light-hearted bio I wrote and originally posted July 18, 2007 on the All Things Anderson blog. All rights reserved.
Official CNN Bio