• Michael Bay On Megan Fox: She Has A Lot Of Growing To Do

  Access Hollywood - Found 11 hours ago ... effects, Michael told the newspaper that making movies is really about telling stories.Either youre born to do this or youre not, Michael said. 'Transformers,' 'Ice Age' battle for top - Variety Bay Hits Back At 'Ridiculous' Fox - Hollywood "Ice Age" Heats up Box Office With Record Opening - ABC News Worst of the summer movie blockbusters - Canada.com Explore All

  AOL UK

• Michael Bay Buys James Frey Sci-Fi: A Million Little Dollars ...

  E! Online - Found 8 hours ago Now if Bay would only cast Megan Fox as an interstellar sexpot, we'd be all set. James Frey Writing Teen Science Fiction Novels - ABC News James Frey turns to teen science-fiction novels - MSNBC Notorious writer plans young adult series - CBC James Frey writing teen science fiction novels - Seattle Times Explore All

  E! Online

• "Transformers" looks unstoppable at box office

  Reuters - Found Jul. 1, 2009 ... the Fox family film should open in the $45 million-$50 million range, while Paramount's Michael Bay-directed blockbuster could get enough of... Just A Minute With: Ray Romano on "Ice Age" - Reuters 'Ice Age' sequel beats 'Transformers' - Hollywood Reporter 'Ice Age' tops Wednesday box office - Variety 'Ice' freezes 'Transformers' - Variety Explore All

  Reuters

• James Frey and Co-Writer Sell Series to HarperCollins

  New York Times - Found Jul. 1, 2009 ... most of the text.Last week, DreamWorks Studios bought film rights to the series, with Michael Bay, the director of ?Transformers: Revenge of... James Frey and Co-Writer Sell Series to HarperCollins - New York Times James Frey and Co-Writer Sell Series to HarperCollins - New York Times James Frey writing teen science fiction novels - Boston Globe James Frey writing teen science fiction novels - San Jose Mercury News Explore All

  AP

• 'Transformers' is mightier than the pen

  San Jose Mercury News - Found Jul. 1, 2009 'Transformers 2' was director Michael Bay's worst-reviewed movie worse than 2001's 'Pearl Harbor.' 'A horrible experience of unbearable length... Transformers 2 box-office defiance - New Zealand Herald 'Transformers 2': Worst-reviewed $400 mn hit? - MSN.co.in 'Transformers' mightier than the pen - AZCentral.com Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - University Daily Kansan Explore All

  Monroe News Star

• Ramon Rodriguez May Get Equal Screen Time With The Robots In The ...

  MTV - Found Jun. 30, 2009 Director Michael Bay?s robot warzone weathered buzz-killing so-so ... So it?s no surprise to hear that Bay hopes to expand on breakout Ramon Rodriguez, 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' - Los Angeles Times Rodriguez to Have Bigger Role in Transformers 3 - Coming Soon! Ramon Rodriguez Might Have Bigger Transformers 3 Role - MovieWeb Explore All

• Movie concept is trumping the movie star

  Philadelphia Inquirer - Found Jun. 30, 2009 Other summer hits like J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen showcase eye-popping visual effects along... For many stars, summer movies have not been hot - Chicago Tribune Movie concept is trumping the movie star - Philly.com Explore All

• Michael Bay, Audience Darling

  Rotten Tomatoes - Found Jun. 29, 2009 Jaimie Trueblood / Paramount Pictures Michael Bay, who is building a strong family following, is seen making the ?Transformers? sequel. ?Transformers? the worst-reviewed $400M hit? - MSNBC Does Transformers 2 set a new low for the critic-audience divide? - Hollywood Reporter Imax breaks 5-day record with 'Transformers' - Hollywood Reporter Transformers tops US box office - BBC Explore All

  New York Post

• DreamWorks and Michael Bay to Reunite for James Frey Sci-Fi Project

  Rotten Tomatoes - Found Jun. 29, 2009 ... to sci-fi book Michael Bay (Getty) Flush with the cascading waterfall of revenue from their 'Transformers' sequel, director Michael Bay and... Bay of glory - Khaleej Times Explore All

  Hollywood Reporter

• No Love for A-List Actors This Summer

  Rotten Tomatoes - Found Jun. 29, 2009 Other summer hits like J.J. Abrams' 'Star Trek' and Michael Bay's 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' showcase eye-popping visual effects... Little love for A-list actors this summer - Los Angeles Times Little love this summer for A-list actors - Los Angeles Times Explore All

Michael Bay
Bay in 2008
Born	Michael Benjamin Bay February 17, 1965 (1965-02-17) (age 44) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film director and producer
Years active	1984-present

Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. Bay is best known for making large-budget action films, such as Armageddon, The Rock, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, Transformers and its sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and producing remakes of horror movies such as Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Biography

Early life

Bay was born in Los Angeles and raised there by his adoptive parents, Harriet, a bookstore owner/child psychiatrist, and Jim, a CPA.¹ Bay is of Jewish descent. ² His cousin is Susan Bay, the wife of actor Leonard Nimoy.³ He attended the exclusive Crossroads School, in Santa Monica, California, where the "Hollywood Elite," including film stars, send their children. He donated his Bar Mitzvah money to an animal shelter.⁴ Later in his adult life, he graduated from Wesleyan University in 1986, where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. After being rejected by USC and other notable film schools, he opted to study film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Early projects

After graduating from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Bay met an old friend from high school named Kirk Skinner who helped him break into the music video industry and worked on videos for artists such as Meat Loaf, Richard Marx, Donny Osmond, Lionel Richie, and Tina Turner, among others. He also began directing television commercials for many large companies, including Nike, Reebok, Budweiser, and Coca-Cola. His most successful advertising campaign creation was the series of "Got Milk?" commercials, which won him the Grand Prix Clio for Commercial of the Year and the Cannes Silver Lion.

1990s

Michael Bay made his first feature film, Bad Boys, in 1995, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The movie became a success with a total of almost $141 million in ticket sales worldwide and generated a huge profit for producers Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson and Columbia Pictures.

His follow-up film, The Rock (1996), is an action movie that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island, and the San Francisco Bay area. It stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. Again it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, the latter of whom who died five months before the film's release. The movie won a number of minor awards, including 'Best On-Screen Duo' for Connery and Cage at the MTV Movie Awards as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound.

In 1998, he collaborated again with Jerry Bruckheimer to direct Armageddon. The film, released at a time when disaster films were seeing a comeback, was about a group of tough oil drillers who are sent by NASA to deflect an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth. It starred Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck. Despite the mixed reviews and criticism, Armageddon was nominated for Academy Awards at the 71st Academy Awards in categories of Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Song, and went on to gross over US$550 million worldwide.

2000s

In 2001, Michael Bay released a film about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Pearl Harbor was released on Memorial Day weekend in 2001. Bay also produced the film along with Jerry Bruckheimer. Critical response was mixed and many critics dismissed the film as visually polished but historically inaccurate, also citing such literary flaws such as the banal dialogue, underdeveloped love triangle plot, and the shallow nature of the lead characters. At the 2002 Academy Awards, Pearl Harbor was nominated for four awards, winning one for Sound Effects Editing. Its other nominations were for Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Song.

Bay reteamed with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys II, and this also marked Bay's fifth collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film was a success at the US box office. It made $138 million domestic gross, enough to cover the production budget, and $273 million worldwide, almost twice as much as the original movie.

In 2005, Bay directed The Island, a science-fiction film described as a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia," starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was the first film Michael Bay made without Jerry Bruckheimer featuring as the producer and also his first to disappoint in the US domestic box office earning only $36 million; it was more successful overseas, where it netted a respectable $163 million worldwide. Bay himself stated that he was not comfortable with the marketing of the movie in the US.⁵ Although not particularly well-received, some critics did note a gentler, more humanistic side to the film, and praised the special effects, stunts, Mauro Fiore's cinematography, and Bay's handling of the movie's intense, multiple chase scenes.

In 2007, Michael Bay was replicated in cartoon during South Park's Imaginationland Episode I. In the episode, M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson, and Bay are asked by the Pentagon for their help rescuing the collective human imagination from terrorists who are holding it captive. Bay proves useless as an adviser, offering only spectacular special effect ideas.

Bay filming on the set of Transformers

In 2007, he teamed up with Steven Spielberg, as the executive producer, to direct Transformers, a live action film based on the Transformers franchise. The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on July 3, 2007, with 8 p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The previews earned $8.8 million, and in its first day of general release it grossed $27.8 million, a record for Tuesday box office attendance. It broke Spider-Man 2's record for the biggest July 4 gross, making $29 million. On its opening weekend, Transformers grossed $70.5 million, amounting to a $155.4 million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a non-sequel. As of November 2007, the film has made over $319 million domestically and over $708 million worldwide, it was well received by audiences, and positive reviews from critics. Bay and Steven Spielberg returned as director and executive producer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was released on June 24, 2009.

All these movies combined grossed in more than $2.6 billion worldwide. Michael Bay's world wide box office totals, make him the 11th highest grossing director in the world. Bay and Wydncrest Holdings acquired the special effects company Digital Domain in 2006 from James Cameron and Stan Winston.⁶ He also runs his producing company, Platinum Dunes, that produces horror genre films (mostly commercially successful remakes of 1970s films), and directs commercials through The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness. Recently Platinum Dunes has released an update of the classic horror picture "Friday the 13th".

Awards

Michael Bay signing an autograph at the Holloman premier for Transformers.

Bay's films usually have high commercial success but are routinely met with a mixed critic reviews. Armageddon and Pearl Harbor were nominated for worst pictures in the Golden Raspberry Awards 1998 and in 2001, Bay was also nominated for worst director. However, Bay has received four MTV Movie Awards: Best Movie, for Transformers, Best Action Scene for Pearl Harbor, Best Action Scene for Bad Boys 2, Best Action Scene for The Rock. In 1994, Bay was honored by the Directors Guild of America as Commercial Director of the Year.⁷

Michael Bay received the ShoWest 2009 Vanguard Award for excellence in filmmaking at the confab of theater owners.⁸

Inspirations

Bay had a variety of factors that sparked and fueled his interest in show business. He draws inspiration from the talents of different directors such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, and the Coen Brothers. In his youth, Bay worked for Lucasfilm where his interest began after filing storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark.⁹

Filmography

As of 2009 Bay has directed eight feature films.

TV commercials

Bay was also one of the directors of the LA music video production company Propaganda Films. After Propaganda, he and producer Scott Gardenhour, also formerly at Propaganda, started The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness¹⁰ to produce commercials and other projects.

Bay also has directed spots for Victoria's Secret and Lexus, produced with Gardenhour and The Institute.

Most recently Bay spoofed himself in an advertisement for the Commonwealth Bank in Australia, as well as a Verizon Fios commercial, where he detonates various items within his home that he deemed "awesome" with special effects explosives.

Music videos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Bay

• Official website and Blog
• Michael Bay at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Bay at Allmovie
• The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness Michael Bay's tv commercial production company
• Michael Bay short form works at Clipland
• Michael Bay music video filmography at mvdbase.com.
• Transformers Movie - Interview With Michael Bay
• Michael Bay is a huge Transformer fan
• Fast Cars, Hot Blondes, Big Budgets, Bigger Explosions, a June 2001 Rolling Stone article
• Appreciation of Bay's over-the-top "The Island"
• Article confirming relationship between Michael Bay and Jaime Bergman
• Criterion Collection essay on Michael Bay and "Armageddon"
• Wydncrest Holdings
• Digital Domain

v • d • e Platinum Dunes Films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) • The Amityville Horror (2005) • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) • The Hitcher (2007) • The Unborn (2009) • Friday the 13th (2009) • The Horsemen (2009) • A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) • The Birds (TBA) Company Creators Michael Bay • Brad Fuller • Andrew Form Other Rogue Pictures • Screen Gems