Michael Bay melts down on stage at CES

The only downside being that he had to do three songs but had only two hits, so his closer was the theme song from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2", which isn't necessarily a strong way to end your set.

I grew up in the 90s and I can only name 2 Vanilla Ice songs, including the one from Secret of the Ooze. I would have been SO excited to see my childhood come alive!
 
Did he ever say anything about the event? I don't judge the guy, public speaking is not easy, someone of his stature also has to watch every word not to offend any interest group. His reasons to walk away could be also deeper than just a fear of public speaking. This forum is a form of public speaking as well, and someone always takes a word or two out of context and starts the jihad.
 
I think it's pathetic that someone at the top of his industry, like him or not, can't talk about technology that he should know, especially if he's being paid to endorse that product.

I understand public speaking is intimidating and some people have a harder time than others, but that's no excuse for such a highly paid supposed professional, especially in this case, IMO.

Pathetic.
 
He's a director, not a spokesman. He was paid to read ad copy,
not discuss his, personal, understanding of Samsung technology.

I have worked many of these events. The client has very specific
things they want said and some people (like directors) are not good
at memorizing pages and pages of ad copy – even when that ad copy
is disguised as a “personal” story. He was at the rehearsal and the
tele worked, he read the copy, was told were to stand and when to
leave. An actor might be able to wing it. Politicians can sometime
wing it. This guy couldn't - the client may have been very clear that
he was not to wing it; that he was being paid to read the copy as
written. The conditions of the rehearsal we not met so he walked off.
 
Maybe with this situation there is...more than meets the eye ;)

Seriously though, we don't know the behind the scenes circumstances unless we were involved in the situation ourselves.

But in the grand scheme of things this won't affect his career. People in the film industry have done a lot worse things than what he did in this situation.
 
He's a director, not a spokesman. He was paid to read ad copy,
not discuss his, personal, understanding of Samsung technology.

I have worked many of these events. The client has very specific
things they want said and some people (like directors) are not good
at memorizing pages and pages of ad copy – even when that ad copy
is disguised as a “personal” story. He was at the rehearsal and the
tele worked, he read the copy, was told were to stand and when to
leave. An actor might be able to wing it. Politicians can sometime
wing it. This guy couldn't - the client may have been very clear that
he was not to wing it; that he was being paid to read the copy as
written. The conditions of the rehearsal we not met so he walked off.

Regardless, he should be able to talk about pertinent tech in his field. Do you make endless excuses for your boss when he messes up horrendously? When he can't tell you about the new cameras he bought for the company? Etc. I don't, and I think if your at the very top of your profession, there are no excuses. Sorry if that opinion is blunt but critiques are far too tame in circumstances like this. Again, only my opinion, but I feel very strongly this way. I'm embarrassed for him but he made a fool out of his and our professions
 
First of all, I'm not paid to endorse the product, as am I not in the top .01% of my field (though I hope that I make steps toward that every day). That is my main criticism of Bay (paid to do a job, know a product, and tell about it, but he couldn't). Second of all, I can confidently say that I'm a strong public speaker (and you're going to have to take my word for that unfortunately). Which is my secondary criticism of Bay (haven't we all had public speaking 101 by this point, come ON!). However, my argument, my anger, does not stem from the fact that that I'm mad because I missed something about this particular product, if he had failed to speak on any subject or product, I would have the same frustration with how he handled himself and his ineptitude.

If I were a salesperson and I went to a conference where the best salespeople in the world are supposed to give discussions on potentially revolutionary products, I would be in similar outrage if the HIRED spokesperson who happens to be an EXPERT in his field couldn't talk on the subject.

Now, let me first hypothesize (without doing ANY, I promise, research on the Sony curved TVs) briefly, like I would have expected Bay to at least TRY to do:

I imagine the main selling point of this Sony product is for home theater experiences. Clearly, with a curve, the viewer no longer has to sit facing directly the TV, side viewing is much improved. Since thats the main revolutionary change that was made to the product and I don't know the specs of it, I can't talk much further on it. But if I were Bay, I would have made some anecdote about the time and energy spent in making big budget, high production value movies and shows, then I would make the argument that the viewer should be able to clearly see all of that magnificence and shouldn't have to sacrifice home-viewing experiences, even if they are sitting off-center from the TV. Thats a very basic, but a selling argument, no?

Now, I'm taking 10 minutes to do my research on the product, and I will tell you a little more. Note, I have yet to see one of these things in real life, so what I say is pretty much regurgitating (how much regurgitating was Bay going to do?) Sony's product descriptions from https://blog.sony.com/press/sony-introduces-worlds-first-curved-screen-led-television/:

The first thing about this TV is that there isn't a bad seat in the house, but that isn't only because of the revolutionary curved technology that allows viewers to see from any angle. That also isn't the only thing the curved screen allows for: image depth has been improved to immerse the viewer even more. Sony's distinct Triluminos display makes colors more vivid. With other advances in what Sony calls their Sony’s X-Reality PRO processor, Sony's TV will display with more clarity and sharpness, no matter the quality of your video, movie, or show. Finally, speaker placement along the curved television will allow viewers to have a crisper audio experience with speakers specifically placed in order to delivery more clarity in dialogue.

Could Bay not have said that? Did he not KNOW that? Who knows...walking off the stage like that indicates that he has little interest in the product (offensive to people who did have the interest to go to the unveiling and listen to an expert speak on the product). Not to mention how simple the basic selling points of this television are...

I work as a photographer and make 12 dollars an hour. I also work as a PA and make 125 a day. Michael Bay made 80 million for directing Transformers (http://movieline.com/2009/06/05/discuss-michael-bay-made-80-million-directing-transformers/).

So, Samwagner. How does the curve affect the viewer experience?

He's the expert, I'm not, he's the one being paid to tell the world about this TV, I'm not. He can't speak intelligently on this topic (or at least he can't prove he can) that he is PAID TO TALK ABOUT. I shouldn't have to speak about this TV or sell it, for that matter, but I think I proved that it's pretty easy to talk intelligently about a product after 10 minutes of looking into it.

I also know that Bay is clearly, like him or not, a good director. He's made movies, real movies, he already deserves praise and honor. But I also know that if he can't speak on something he is being paid to speak on, he deserves no break from the criticism.

Should we not be critical? How else do we improve? How else can he improve if not for critics?

Troll my intense argument on this subject all you want, but I have said my piece, explained myself, and I will stick to my guns because I think I have made a logically sound point. I hope I have made a comprehensive point about how we treat and idolize celebrities and those at the top of our own field.

As a side note, I don't think I should have had to make this argument in favor of criticizing Bay. In my film experience, criticism is one of the main sources of good ideas and great collaboration. We should be harder on ourselves and our peers because we all need to improve.
 
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the main selling point of this Sony product
Wouldn't you get in trouble for selling Sony products at a Samsung event?:D

But seriously, you are entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that most people would react quite similarly if they would suddenly lose their notes/ teleprompter feed in an event where they thought they would have them.
 
Wouldn't you get in trouble for selling Sony products at a Samsung event?:D

See, I hardly know the product and I can make a basic sales pitch! Couldn't he?

And yes, we all have our valid opinions, I would love to hear why you defend him in this scenario. Maybe you could change my mind. I just feel like I have a strong point and wanted to share.
 
Yes, he was put in a difficult situation, one which he was not specifically hired to do, and one which he may not be naturally good at. I get that.

But c'mon, can you show just the slightest bit of effort? He didn't try. He didn't give it a chance. How does he know the teleprompter (or whatever they were using) wasn't really close to being fixed, and all he needed to do was give it the slightest bit of time?

Sure, that's not technically in the job description for what he was hired to do, but in an imperfect world things go wrong every now and then, and I think it's just basic human dignity to give at least a minimal effort to cope with a bad situation. He didn't even try, and in my book, that's a poor reflection of character.
 
^ Got to agree.

He could have at least tried. As a $200+ million movie director he should have a lot of confidence and must be able to talk and direct people. I guess he just didn't really care, decided to walk off.

And he's known for his big mouth and ego, Megan Fox is not a fan:

He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward.

I guess her latter sentence could be an explanation for what happened to him at CES.

Hollywood Feuds: Actors vs. Directors
http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-actorsvdirectors/6/

Her feud with him is now over since she's working on his Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.
.
 
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I wonder if the reason Spielberg wanted her fired was really because of her unflattering description of Bay. I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason was because of her openly disdaining the film on talk shows and in interviews.

I can't say I blamed her for wanting to distance herself from it.

But I can say that I was amazed when I heard her looking down her nose at the film so openly when she was making the rounds to promote it. Here's a young actor, probably being paid quite handsomely(?), and probably quite lucky to be in such a big production. Part of her job is to do the press-junket, right, put on a smile, help to promote the film?

If I were Spielberg or Bay and I watched/heard the performance she gave on at least one of the talk shows that I saw, when she was supposed to be promoting the film, well, I too would have been like, okay, so this production is beneath you, huh? Well, don't let us keep you, then.

She is an extraoridnary women to look at. And there was something cool and ballsy about her dissing the movie she was supposed to be selling on national television. But, at the same time, it was a fairly low down way to bite the hands that feed. Not a team player thing to do.

No "I" in team.

Just my impression. Maybe I'm way off and wrong.
 
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I wonder if the reason Spielberg wanted her fired was really because of her unflattering description of Bay. I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason was because of her openly disdaining the film on talk shows and in interviews.

something tells me he's not fond of slanderous hitler references
just a guess
 
Have to say I did not know she was negative about the film during the promotion tour. That would indeed be poor form. For the later Transformers she was very very well paid indeed.
 
I don't know. Maybe I imagined it. I don't think so though. But I'm having trouble finding the interview on the net which I at least thought I remembered seeing on TV. So maybe it didn't happen. It doesn't help that I don't remember what show it was. Still, I'm not yet ready to eat my words and apologize. I remember, or thought I remembered, being actually fearful for her career when I heard it.
 
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