Michael Bay

After launching his career as an award-winning commercial and music video director, Michael Bay quickly emerged as one of Hollywood’s boldest and most bankable feature film directors. Characterized by his aggressive visual style and high-octane action sequences that have become his cinematic signature, the films that Bay has directed and produced via his two production companies have grossed $6.5 billion worldwide.

His directing resume includes the films “Bad Boys” and “Bad Boys 2,” both starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence; “The Rock” starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery; “Armageddon” starring Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis; “Pearl Harbor” starring Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale; “The Island” starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; as well as four “Transformers” blockbusters. The franchise has grossed over $2.4 billion; the latest installment, “Transformers: Age Of Extinction,” opened at a staggering $300 million globally and broke box office records in China.

Bay also has three television shows in production, and is producing four additional films. He is the founder and principal partner of Platinum Dunes, a production company originally conceived to give talented commercial and video directors a chance to break into the feature world.

A graduate of Wesleyan University and Art Center College of Design, Bay has won virtually every major award in the commercial industry, including Cannes’ Golden Lion, the Grand Prix Clio, and the Directors Guild of America’s Commercial Director of the Year award. His “Got Milk?” campaign resides in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

An L.A. native, Michael has called Miami home for the past three years. Bay Films now operates from South Beach while Platinum Dunes from Santa Monica.