Michael Bay trivia: 47 facts about the famous director

Michael Bay is an American director and one of the most commercially successful directors.

His films include five Transformers movies and the Bad Boys franchise. So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about his life and career.

1. His full name is Michael Benjamin Bay
2. He was born on February 17, 1965
3. He is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depictions of explosions
4. The films he has produced and directed, which include Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001) and the Transformers film series (2007–present)
5. His films have grossed over US$7.8 billion worldwide
6. Making him one of the most commercially successful directors in history
7. He is co-founder of commercial production house The Institute, a.k.a. The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness
8. He co-owns Platinum Dunes
9. It is a production house which has remade horror movies including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Amityville Horror (2005), The Hitcher (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
10. Despite his commercial success at the box office, Bay’s work is generally held in low esteem by film critics
11. While The Rock (1996) and Transformers (2007) received moderately positive reviews
12. His other films, including the four Transformers sequels, have been received negatively by critics
13. Michael Bay was born in Los Angeles
14. He was raised by his adoptive parents
15. Harriet, a bookstore owner/child psychiatrist
16. And Jim, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).[8] Bay was raised Jewish
17. His grandfather was from Russia
18. His cousin, Susan Bay, is the widow of Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy
19. Leonard Nimoy eventually cast as the voice actor for Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon
20. He attended the exclusive Crossroads School, in Santa Monica, California
21. Bay often traces his interest in action films back to an incident during his childhood
22. As a boy, he attached some firecrackers to a toy train and filmed the ensuing fiery disaster with his mother’s 8 millimeter camera
23. The fire department was called and he was grounded
24. Bay founded production house Platinum Dunes with fellow producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form in 2001
25. Bay and Wyndcrest Holdings, a Florida-based investment firm, acquired the digital effects company Digital Domain from James Cameron and Stan Winston in 2006, infusing the struggling business with a $50 million investment
26. Digital Domain considered an initial public offering in 2009 but ultimately withdrew the offer, because of the lack of interest
27. The company was sold to Galloping Horse in 2012
28. After leaving Propaganda Films, Bay and producer Scott Gardenhour, also formerly at Propaganda, formed The Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness (now known as The Institute), to produce commercials and other projects
29. Through The Institute, Bay has directed and produced spots for Victoria’s Secret, Lexus, Budweiser, Reebok, Mercedes-Benz, and Nike
30. One of his Victoria Secret ads was for the 2009 “A Thousand Fantasies” holiday campaign
31. Bay co-founded 451 Media Group with Doug Nunes (who serves as CEO), and with John and Anthony Gentile, who previously marketed brands such as Micronauts, Visionaries, Sky Dancers and the Power Glove
32. In 2015, the company announced an interactive publishing division to offer “augmented reality” content from printed graphic novels with digital video
33. The graphic novels employ Touchcode technology from T+ink (previously used in the Power Glove), in which ink used in the printing process unlocks access to exclusive content that is housed on the Machinima Network, which is transferred to users’ touch-screen-enabled mobile devices when the printed books are touched to those devices
34. The company’s premiere slate of graphic novels was unveiled at the October 2015 New York Comic-Con
35. The creators involved included Scott Rosenberg, Skip Woods, George Pelecanos, Mark Mallouk, Clay McLeod Chapman and Peter and Paul Williams
36. In June 2016, Bay joined The Rogue Initiative, a production studio and technology company, as a strategic advisor and stakeholder
37. The studio merges Hollywood production with interactive talent to generate story-driven content for games, mobile, virtual reality, mixed reality, television and feature film
38. As part of the partnership, Bay will develop and direct a multiplatform action-adventure game and cinematic VR experiences, based on an original IP conceived by him
39. Bay lives in Miami with his three English mastiffs, named for characters in his films
40. As a boy, he donated his Bar Mitzvah money to an animal shelter and often includes his dogs in his films
41. Bonecrusher appeared as Mikaela’s dog “Bones” in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
42. Mason, his first English mastiff, was named for John Patrick Mason, played by Sean Connery in The Rock
43. Mason appeared as Marcus’ dog in Bad Boys II and as Miles’ dog in Transformers
44. He died during production of the latter film in March 2007
45. Bay is not married and has no children
46. He previously dated sportscaster Lisa Dergan
47. In 2016 Bay owned a $50 million Gulfstream G550 jet, as well as a Bentley, a Range Rover, an Escalade, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and two Camaros from the Transformers franchise