Michael Bay

Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American director, producer and actor. He is known for his high-budget action movies which often use a lot of special effects, especially explosions. These include Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Bad Boys, Pearl Harbor, and Armageddon.

Early life
Bay was born on February 17, 1965 in Los Angeles, California. He studied at Wesleyan University. His cousin-in-law was actor Leonard Nimoy.

Career
Bay got his start in the film industry interning with George Lucas when he was fifteen, filing the storyboards for Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he thought was going to be terrible. His opinion changed after seeing it in the theater and he was so impressed by the experience that he decided to become a film director. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1986, majoring in both English and Film. He was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and a favorite student of film historian Jeanine Basinger. For his graduate work, he attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where he also studied film.

Michael Bay began working at Propaganda Films, directing commercials and music videos, two weeks after finishing his post-graduate degree. His 90-second World War II-inspired Coca-Cola advertisement was picked up by Capitol Records. His first national commercial for the Red Cross won a Clio Award in 1992.

Bay's success in music videos gained the attention of producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, who selected him to direct his first feature-length film, Bad Boys. The film was shot in Miami in 1994 and starred Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Shooting in Miami was a good experience for Bay who would later own a home in the city and spend a great deal of time there. The film was completed for $19 million and grossed $141 million at the box office in the summer of 1995. Bay's success led to a strong partnership and friendship with Jerry Bruckheimer.

His follow-up film, The Rock (1996), was an action movie set on Alcatraz Island, and in the San Francisco Bay area. It starred Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. Connery and Cage won 'Best On-Screen Duo' at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997 and the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Achievement in Sound category for the work of Greg P. Russell, Kevin O'Connell, and Keith A. Wester.

In 1998, Bay collaborated with Jerry Bruckheimer again, this time as a co-producer, as well as directing the action-adventure film Armageddon. The film, about a group of tough oil drillers who are sent by NASA to deflect an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth, starred Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler. It was nominated for 4 Oscars at the 71st Academy Awards including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Song. The film earned 9.6 million dollars on its opening day and a total of 36.5 million through the first weekend. The production budget, $140 million, was one of the highest of the summer of 1998. Armageddon went on to gross over $553 million worldwide.

Later career
In 2001, Bay directed Pearl Harbor. It starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Bay produced the film with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Song.  Pearl Harbor won in the category for Sound Editing. Michael Bay also directed the music video for nominated track "There You'll Be" by vocal artist Faith Hill.  Despite all the criticisms that Michael Bay had received through the film, Pearl Harbor remained  in the major blockbuster list, as it featured a plot which the viewers, especially young audiences, can relate with, and special effects which made the movie very realistic.

Bay reteamed with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for Bad Boys II, an event which also marked Bay's fifth collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer. The film grossed $138 million domestically, enough to cover the production budget, and $273 million worldwide, almost twice as much as the first movie.

In 2005, Bay directed The Island, a science-fiction film starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was the first film Michael Bay made without Jerry Bruckheimer. The Island cost $126 million to produce. It earned $46 million domestically and $172 million worldwide. Bay said he was not comfortable with the domestic marketing campaign as it confused the audience as to the true subject of the film.
In 2007, he directed and teamed up with Steven Spielberg to produce 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 the record held by Spider-Man 2 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.

Bay returned as director and executive producer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was released on June 24, 2009 and went on to gross over $832 million worldwide. Although it received mostly negative reviews by critics, including aggressively critical reviews by American film critics such as Roger Ebert, Michael Phillips and David Denby (who referred to Bay as "stunningly, almost viciously, untalented"), the film was well received by its intended audience and was one of the highest-grossing films of 2009. In 2010, it earned seven Golden Raspberry Award nominations and won three: Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.

Bay directed Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released on June 28, 2011. He may direct a sequel to the Bad Boys franchise or a "small" film he's been developing for years, tentatively called Pain & Gain. The true crime story, based on events described in a Miami Herald article written by Pete Collins, concerns a group of bumbling bodybuilders working together to commit a robbery.

Bay produced DreamWorks' I Am Number Four, based on a series of novels by Pittacus Lore published by HarperCollins Children's Books. D. J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) directed.

Filmography

Movies

 Year Title Director Producer Actor Role1981Indiana Jones: Riders of The Lost ArcNoNoNoStoryboarder1986Miami Vice (TV)NoNoYesSaison 2, èpisode 21
GoonVengeance: The Story of Tony CimoNoNoYesAn Agent1990Vanilla Ice I Love You (short film)YesNoNoPlay The Funky Music (segment I Love You) (short film)YesNoNo1992Patriot's GameNoNoYesThe English Cops talks with Sean at Truck and then killed by Irish 1995Bad Boys1996The Rock1998Armageddon NASA Scientist(uncredited)1999Mystery MenFrat boy2000Coyote UglyPhotographer2001Pearl HarborZigsNoNoYesExtra 2003Bad Boys IICrappy Car Driver The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2005The Amityville HorrorThe Island2006The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning2007HitcherNoYesNoTransformersYesYesYesCar Flicked by Megatron (uncredited) 2009The UnbornFriday the 13thTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen2010A Nightmare on Elm Street 2011I Am Number FourTransformers: Dark of the Moon2012Rise of the Guardians 2013 Pain & Gain    The Purge    2014 Transformers: Age of Extinction  YesTruck Driver (uncredited) The Purge: Anarchy    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles    No Good Deed    Ouija    2015 Project Almanac   201613 Hours The Secret of the Soldier of BenghaziYesYesNoTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2NoYesNoAmerican Nightmare 3: AnarchyNoYesNoOuija 2NoYesNo2017Amytville: The AwakingNoYesNoTransformers: The Last KnightYesYesNo

Criticism
Even though most his movies have made a lot of money, many movie critics do not like his work. He has often been made fun of and/or named as the worst working director. He has consistently topped or appeared in Worst Directors lists by users on Internet Movie Database (IMDB). In response to the criticism, Bay has said: "I make movies for teenage boys. Oh, dear, what a crime."

 Year Film Rotten Tomatoes Overall 1995  Bad Boys  43% 1996  The Rock  67% 1998  Armageddon  39% 2001  Pearl Harbor  25% 2003  Bad Boys II  23% The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  36% 2005  The Amityville Horror  23% The Island  40% 2006  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning  12% 2007  The Hitcher  21% Transformers  57% 2009  The Unborn  11% Friday the 13th  25% Horsemen  40% Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen  20% 2010  A Nightmare on Elm Street  15% 2011  I Am Number Four  32% Transformers: Dark of the Moon  36% 2013  Pain & Gain  45% The Purge  38%

References

Other websites





Category:1965 births
Category:Living people
Category:Actors from Los Angeles
Category:American movie actors
Category:American movie directors
Category:American movie producers
Category:Clio Award winners
Category:Movie directors from Los Angeles
Category:Movie producers from Los Angeles
Category:Saturn Award winners