Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing big-budget action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depiction of explosions. His films, which include Armageddon, Pearl Harborand the Transformers film series, have grossed over US$5 billion worldwide. He is co-founder of commercial production house The Institute, a.k.a. The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness. He is co-chair and part-owner of the digital effects house Digital Domain...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth17 February 1965
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Maybe I have just a younger voice than many other directors.
I'm one of the few directors that actually shoots a lot in camera.
I love doing big movies. It's awesome! You have all these toys. The thing I like about this movie is, like they always say, directors have the biggest train sets! Don't tell anyone, but I'd do this for free.
I love doing big movies. It's awesome! You have all these toys. . . . The thing I like about this movie is, like they always say, directors have the biggest train sets! Don't tell anyone, but I'd do this for free.
People have a hard time believing I'd ever want to do a small movie, but I would love to do something funny and quirky.
Sometimes, we just laugh about it knowing that this is a scene they will talk about in 'Premiere' magazine because of its flaws in continuity. I think you have to make movies for the general public and not the details. When you get hung up on continuity, you can't keep the pace and price down. Most people simply consume a movie and they are not even aware of these errors.
I was hooked by the love story in Pearl Harbor. Believe it or not, I have a really soft heart and I can be sappy.
It's such a massive story to tell, it would have taken nine hours,
The psychological root behind this competitive streak is that I was an athlete when I was young and took sports really seriously. I look at directing as a sporting event. It's a race, a marathon. It's great when it clicks - which is why I push my crews so hard so we can excel.
When you're walking on the set, sometimes you are alone in the main cell block, and you're seeing Al Capone lived here, ... It's just bizarre.
I'm at that point in my life where I definitely want to get married soon. I've got my dogs as surrogates, but I'm ready for kids.
It's... a hard thing for a director, to think you came up with a shot, something from your mind, and someone died while doing it. It's the worst thing you'll ever have to live with. It was very hard for me to get back on the horse again.
I don't see anything wrong with spending a lot of money to make big action movies to entertain people. Yet somehow, I come under special scrutiny. I mean, why don't people get upset if Dow spends $300 million to invent some new chemical? Audiences like popcorn movies. What's wrong with that?
I am very good at handling a huge movie, with a million things going on. I'm very decisive, clear in what I want. I'm very cost-conscious, in terms of how to get the big bang on the screen. I'm very good at making things happen very fast.