Raised in Iran and Canada, Khonsari was first introduced to filmmaking
through his grandfather's super 8mm films. He developed an appreciation
for storytelling from his grandmother, who would recite stories (both
fictional and historical) from memory. Khonsari fell in love with video
games after playing Pitfall on Atari.
He graduated from the University of British Columbia, and also studied
at the Vancouver Film School. His first short film was entitled "Arcade
Angels", which focused on video game burnouts who robbed a video rental
store and then opened an arcade. He wrote and produced The Contract,
his first film with Billy Dee Williams. Khonsari broke out on to the
gaming scene with Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne.
He met his wife Vassiliki, while working on Pindemonium. They own and
operate iNK Stories, a studio based out of New York and Toronto.