Michael Bay

This article is about . For other uses of "Michael", see Michael (disambiguation)|The name or term "Michael" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Michael (disambiguation).}}
"I say Devastator. DE-VAS-TA-TOR!"

Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is the director of DreamWorks' Transformers live-action movies. Bay has directed other blockbuster action films, such as the first two Bad Boys films, The Rock, Armageddon, [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Pearl Harbor (film)|{{#if:Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor (film)}}]], The Island, Pain & Gain, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, 6 Underground and Ambulance. He also directed that "Aaron Burr!" milk commercial.

In addition to directing, Bay served as a producer for a number of horror movies through his production company Platinum Dunes, as well producing non-horror films such as I am Number Four, Project Almanac and the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action duology.

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“ I make movies for teenage boys. Oh dear, what a crime. ”
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—Michael Bay{{#if:|, {{{3}}}}}

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Filmography

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Films directed

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Films produced

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Creative collaboration

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Fiction

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Titan Magazines

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Michael Bay produces documentary films about the Transformers. His first one was a shockingly biased piece of Autobot propaganda, and the Decepticons would like to have a polite chat about it. #13's Star Screams

Sector Seven ARG

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Sector Seven agent Hugo Weaving had to convince "M.B." and his compatriots to put him in charge of the "Megaman issue" in the PsyOp exercise of a film the organization is making in order to cover up the existence of N.B.E.s on Earth. Sector Seven ARG

Revenge of the Fallen film

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Leo Spitz and Sam Witwicky's dorm room had a poster of the 1995 movie [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Bad Boys (1995 film)|{{#if:Bad Boys|Bad Boys|Bad Boys (1995 film)}}]]. The poster informed that it was a Michael Bay film. Revenge of the Fallen

Ask Vector Prime

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In one parallel universe, Michael Bay was hired to direct the GoBots film franchise instead. Ask Vector Prime

Toys

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This was AWESOME
  • "BayBot," a joking representation of Bay in toy form, was "advertised" in an Easter egg on the Transformers DVD. The toy is an Alternators Battle Ravage with a humanoid head and Autobot insignia. And puppies. It's quite disturbing, actually. The toy was created by Hasbro's Transformers design team for Bay, but he had no idea that Paramount had included it as an Easter egg joke.


Merchandise

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WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE?
  • Michael Bay appeared as a lavender M&M in a cross-promotional poster.


Commercial appearances

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  • Michael Bay starred in a Verizon FiOS commercial in which he had an awesome pussy cat (a tiger), an awesome grill (with a life-size Bumblebee, also awesome), and an awesome pool. Typically, he had a switch to blow something up, which he did...three times. The cat was not blown up (which was fortunate), but all three explosions were AWESOME. He also batted away the Nokia-bot, causing it to explode, because that's just how he rolls. Verizon FİOS Michael Bay commercial
  • He also took time out of his busy schedule to showcase the virtues of the Transformers: Dark of the Moon Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray 3D combo pack and the Transformers Ultimate Collector's Edition. He even had to sign 5000 copies of the Collector's Edition. You ever do that? Five. Thousand. Signatures. Michael Bay Showcases Transformers Blu-ray Limited Edition


Convention appearances

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Quotes

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Remember the heart and the magic!{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay's catchphrase regarding Transformers: Revenge of the FallenA very short interview on E! Online, October 2007<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20071024125023/http://www.eonline.com/movies/reelgirl/detail/index.jsp?uuid=03ff539b-dffa-4d60-ad7b-084f510128a7&sid=reel Archived version</ref>|Michael Bay's catchphrase regarding Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen{{#if:A very short interview on E! Online, October 2007<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20071024125023/http://www.eonline.com/movies/reelgirl/detail/index.jsp?uuid=03ff539b-dffa-4d60-ad7b-084f510128a7&sid=reel Archived version</ref>|, A very short interview on E! Online, October 2007<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/20071024125023/http://www.eonline.com/movies/reelgirl/detail/index.jsp?uuid=03ff539b-dffa-4d60-ad7b-084f510128a7&sid=reel Archived version</ref>|}}|}}
I don't even know how you spend that much money on a movie.{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay on the budgets for other 2007 summer blockbustersTransformers movie DVD audio commentary.|Michael Bay on the budgets for other 2007 summer blockbusters{{#if:Transformers movie DVD audio commentary.|, Transformers movie DVD audio commentary.|}}|}}
We don’t build $3 million sets and then the director walks in and says, “F*** it, I’m not going to use that set.” The stories I hear from my crew members, of waste on other pictures, of directors shooting a six— or eight-hour day, it’s just staggering.{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay on budget againInterview with Variety<ref>http://www.michaelbay.com/archives/site/2008-2010/newsblog/files/b7f044df56ae3317b4b36abb77c88f9b-546.php</ref>|Michael Bay on budget again{{#if:Interview with Variety<ref>http://www.michaelbay.com/archives/site/2008-2010/newsblog/files/b7f044df56ae3317b4b36abb77c88f9b-546.php</ref>|, Interview with Variety<ref>http://www.michaelbay.com/archives/site/2008-2010/newsblog/files/b7f044df56ae3317b4b36abb77c88f9b-546.php</ref>|}}|}}
And someone could come in here and screw it up, you know?{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay on Transformers 4Interview with Huffington Post<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/michael-bay-transformers-4-pain-and-gain_n_1903523.html</ref>|Michael Bay on Transformers 4{{#if:Interview with Huffington Post<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/michael-bay-transformers-4-pain-and-gain_n_1903523.html</ref>|, Interview with Huffington Post<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/michael-bay-transformers-4-pain-and-gain_n_1903523.html</ref>|}}|}}
Do you ever get sick of actors that make $15 million a picture, or even $200,000 for voiceover work that took a brisk one hour and 43 minutes to complete, and then complain about their jobs? With all the problems facing our world today, do these grumbling thespians really think people reading the news actually care about trivial complaints that their job wasn’t “artistic enough” or “fulfilling enough”?{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay on actor Hugo Weaving|Michael Bay on actor Hugo Weaving{{#if:|, {{{3}}}|}}|}}
Well, that’s Megan Fox for you. She says some very ridiculous things because she’s 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing to do. You roll your eyes when you see statements like that and think, “Okay Megan, you can do whatever you want. I got it.” ...Nobody in the world knew about Megan Fox until I found her and put her in “Transformers.”{{#if:|{{{quote2}}}}}{{#if:Michael Bay on actress Megan Fox|Michael Bay on actress Megan Fox{{#if:|, {{{3}}}|}}|}}

Notes

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  • Bay, as presented in various documentary segments, takes an extremely active, hands-on approach to the filming of his movies, carefully orchestrating complex effects sequences, and sometimes getting behind the camera lens himself. He's apparently a little more passive in regards to things like scripting and character development. Revenge of the Fallen began development without a full-fledged script, and while Bay conceived of the characters of the Twins, he left their actual characterization up to the voice actors who portrayed them.
  • Michael Bay's auditioning process for leading ladies is notoriously rigorous and scrutinizing. Examples of the criteria necessary to obtain employment from Bay include: How well the actress can wash his Ferrari while he films them in private<ref name="ferrariwash">"Trailer trash", The Observer, July 2009.</ref> and how well the actress screen-tests while wearing see-through lingerie.<ref>Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wore transparent lingerie to 'Transformers 3' audition with Shia LaBeouf @ nydailynews.com</ref>
  • At times, other people involved with Bay's films have claimed to be Bay himself. It is not known if they are attempting to protect him from the Romans or not.<ref>A comment Bay made during the Transformers promotional reel at BotCon 2006.</ref>
  • When the production required a fictional tail serial number to paint on the real MH-53 Pave Low helicopters representing Blackout, Bay decided to use the tail number from his own personal Gulfstream Aerospace G-1159A jet, 4500X.<ref name="bayaudio">Michael Bay's audio commentary for the Transformers movie DVD.</ref> In 2010, Bay used this jet to fly personnel in and out of Haiti following the huge earthquake there.<ref name="haiti">TF3 Update & Haiti on michael bay dot com</ref>
  • A second Bay Easter Egg appeared in Revenge of the Fallen: the freighter ship carrying a group of Constructicons is named Bayos, a nickname for the generally chaotic and destructive nature of Bay's films.
  • During a television interview on June 13th, 2007 in Australia on the Ten Network's news hour, Bay stated that Hugo Weaving had recorded his lines as Megatron in Australia while Bay directed him from the U.S. using Apple iChat, and thus, he had never actually met the actor.
  • Sam Witwicky's eBay user name, "LadiesMan217", is a reference to Bay's birthday. ladiesman217 is a registered user on eBay.
  • Susan Bay, a relative of Michael Bay, was married to famed Star Trek actor (and the original voice of Generation 1 Galvatron) Leonard Nimoy, and apparently it was due to their substantial contributions to the Griffith Observatory that Michael was allowed to film Transformers at that location.<ref name="bayaudio"/> Apparently, Nimoy was even considered to provide the voice for The Fallen, but Bay felt uncomfortable asking him to do it for such a small wage. Nimoy himself was apparently much more enthusiastic about being involved in Transformers again. It all worked out for the third film though, in which Nimoy played Sentinel Prime.
  • According to Bay, the human bystander that Megatron flicks aside during the Mission City sequence was Bay himself (one assumes he means it is a CGI digital double made in his appearance).<ref name="bayaudio" /> This 'cameo' replaces one he filmed where he was the driver of the silver Mercedes-Benz ML320 that Megatron tosses aside.<ref>Easter egg on the Transformers movie DVD depicting the shooting of an unused scene.</ref>
  • Two of Michael Bay's dogs are linked to Transformers. One, Mason, is the dog Miles is seen giving a bath to during the film. A new puppy he got while working on the film was named Bonecrusher. No word yet on what, if anything, the dog hates. Bonecrusher subsequently got a role in Revenge of the Fallen as himself.
  • According to an interview with Forbes, Bay receives an 8% cut of royalties from sales of Transformers movie toys and merchandise.<ref>Michael Bay interview on Forbes.com, June 3, 2009</ref>
  • For Revenge of the Fallen, Bay earned himself an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the "biggest explosion on film with actors present".<ref name="guiness">New Zealand Herald article mentioning Bay' Guinness Book entry</ref> Now if that ain't AWESOME.
  • He dissed the Fallen as "kind of a **** character" to USA Today.<ref>USA Today, "Next Transformers is due for a switch"</ref> Hasbro probably doesn't think that's AWESOME.
  • Curved TVs are his Kryptonite.
  • In China, one of Michael Bay's nicknames is "mài kǎobèi" (卖拷贝), almost literally "sell copies".
  • In Age of Extinction, Michael Bay has a cameo appearance as a truck driver's passenger.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btn2tPxjisA&t=51s</ref>
  • After a first Transformers 5 set visit, Bay personally convinced Paramount to do a second one, this time flying fan-media representatives from across the globe to Hollywood for a "The Last Knight Super Fan Event", which included a visit to his personal studio.
  • He demands that things be AWESOME. And explode. Because explosions are awesome (this guy agrees too).
I am here to ask you one question, and one question only: EXPLOSIONS?!


Feuds with the cast

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Many who have worked with Bay haven't had the kindest things to say about him after the fact. Bay, in turn, doesn't pull his punches when responding...

  • During the publicity in the lead up to the release of Revenge of the Fallen and articles thereafter, there has been a war of words between Megan Fox and Bay. Fox has commented negatively on the Transformers sequel, claiming that it was "not a movie about acting" and she spends most of the time "running or screaming, or both";<ref name="foxew">Entertainment Weekly interview with Megan Fox June 10, 2009</ref> furthermore, that she "still didn't know what was happening" in the film despite appearing in it and having read the script, and anyone who understood the movie had to be a "genius".<ref name="meganearly">Appearance by Megan Fox on The Early Show, June 30, 2009, reported by Movieline.</ref> Bay, in return, condescendingly remarked that Fox "says some very ridiculous things" and "still has a lot of growing to do".<ref name="baywsj">Wall Street Journal interview with Michael Bay, June 25, 2009.</ref> In early September 2009, Fox stated in Wonderland magazine that Bay had a Hitler-like dictator persona on set, and off the set was very socially awkward in an otherwise warm review of the man.<ref name="bayhitler">LA Times blog comments on Fox's claims September 2, 2009</ref> Evidently having not read the entire interview, three members of "Bay's crew" anonymously responded in an open letter praising Bay and derogatorily citing the difficulty in working with Fox.<ref name="baycrew">[Open letter by the Transformers set crew on Michael Bay.com on September 11, 2009. Removed from Bay's site, mirrored at TFW2005</ref> The letter was quickly removed and Michael Bay himself soon responded, saying he doesn't condone either the letter or Fox's outlandish comments, but noted her "crazy quips" was part of her "crazy charm", and since they had a good relationship, he expects further outrageous comments from Fox in the lead up to Transformers 3.<ref>Michael Bay, responding to the crew letter on his website September 12, 2009</ref> Fox later agreed to act in the Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film series.
This page has gone on too long without wanton destruction. YOU'RE WELCOME.

References

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