Michael was born and raised in Hempstead, Long Island, He has two siblings, an younger brother Kevin Arbouet and a younger sister Helene. His father and mother both work in the Health field industries. His first experience in the entertainment industry came when he did some acting in High School. He always wanted to become a director, so he went to college and graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in film. He started his training at NBC, in New York, where he intern for a year. He got his first paying job doing some editing on an independent feature The Girl in the Watermelon (1994). His first notable project was a four minute short that he wrote, edited and directed called New York Minute (2004) not to be confused with Dennie Gordon film starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. This was followed by Serial (2004) a film that he was the Executive Producer this film was directed by Kevin Arbouet and Larry Strong the latter of which brought him to the public's attention. Arbouet has formed a production company with brother Kevin Arbouet and friends L.J. Strong and John Celentano. Called Arbo Pictures, they hope it will make innovative films with interesting stories that will raise the bar in Hollywood. Michael is working on other big-budget films which should be coming to theaters in the near future.