Angry Fucking Bay Blog Posts Are Coming Down
Never one to shy away from using his minimalist web presence as a virtual megaphone through which he can shout at either the international movie stars or internet dickwads who displease him, Michael Bay blogged up some choice words for Transformers producers Tom DeSanto and Don Murphy late last Friday. However, once cooler, gloriously coiffed fauxteur heads prevailed, Bay removed the post, thinking better of airing his grievances in public. But through the magic of the internets, Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke has recovered the text of the director's complaints about how he felt the producers were unfairly claiming credit for the movie's blowing-shit-up vision. An excerpt:
Now that the movie is done I get strange questions from the press. Like 'how did Tom control the set'? What? 'How did Tom and Don control you?' What the fuck. 'How was it working with Tom and Don who knew Transformers so well?' 'We heard Tom wrote the story - he had a 90 page treatment, right?' Okay stop. Let me take you back in time. Tom and Don are very nice guys, but let's get some facts straight.
Tom had one creative meeting with me for one hour and ten minutes to be exact about a year ago. He told he was the über fan boy and was going to protect me from the minefields. The type of minefields on the Net like 'Damn you Michael Bay' 'You wrecked my childhood Michael Bay' and other various web death threats I received. Tom proceeded to tell me how much he had problems with the robot designs and script issues. I realized he was worlds apart in my vision. I said thank you very much, and then showed him my office door - I never really spoke to him again other then to mutter hello. He would occasionally come to the set with guests like it was some theme park. I never spoke creatively with Don. I read his notes kind of trashing the script and making me and the writers feel like a big shit pile. But during production Don was nice to me, he knew I was not going to talk creative with him.
One day not too long ago, the writers of our movie Alex and Bob called me in a panic saying all of a sudden after the movie was almost finished in post that Tom was applying for writer's or story credit. I was appalled because neither the writer's nor I ever saw any treatment. Well, he applied for credit, but the Writer's Guild shot him down, denied him.
But what made my blood curl was something that was on the Net with Tom at the Saturn awards on IESB.net where they interviewed him about the movie - a movie I might add he had not seen yet. He acted very much like he did. Check it out as he vamps through the questions, and how Hugo put his 'thumb print on it'. Give me a break, the guy was lying through his teeth - he had seen nada, nothing, until the press screening.
So that's the real truth, I had to say it, cause I'm tired of answering these questions.
What these guys did do was stuck with a 'silly toy movie' and pushed it around town and kept the faith after everyone turned them down, always with the hope that maybe someone somewhere would make it. Now I commend them on that. Hats off to them, but trying to taking creative credit in the press let me just say it - irks me.
The rest of the post is here, but be prepared for some letdown: while Bay's harangue (written, it should go without saying, before the movie set the box office record for the Biggest Tuesday Ever) is entertaining, it lacks the flair of the playful verses penned by the anonymous poet who didn't approve of the director's handling of his beloved giant fucking robots.