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ShoWest 2009 - Michael Bay/ShoWest Vanguard Award

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MICHAEL BAY  RECEIVES SHOWEST VANGUARD AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILMMAKING

BAY’S NEXT FILM, PARAMOUNT PICTURES’ AND DREAMWORKS PICTURES

“TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN” OPENS JUNE 24

Michael Bay received the ShoWest 2009 Vanguard Award for Excellence in Filmmaking, at ShoWest’s Final Night Banquet and Award Ceremony on Thursday, April 2, at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas.

“We are thrilled to be able to honor one of the most bold and imaginative filmmakers in the industry today,” said Mitch Neuhauser, co-managing director of the event. “Michael Bay’s aggressive visual style and memorable action sequences leaves audiences at the edge of the seats and running back to the theaters for more with each new release. We could not be more honored to present Michael Bay with the ShoWest Vanguard Award for Excellence in Filmmaking.”
Opening on June 24, 2009, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” is Bay’s highly anticipated follow-up to the box-office blockbuster “Transformers,” the third-highest grossing picture and the best-selling DVD of 2007. “Transformers” earned over $700 million worldwide, making it Bay’s most successful film to date. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” marks the return of stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro and introduces several new characters played by Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas and Rainn Wilson.

As one of the entertainment industry’s most successful filmmakers, Michael Bay has grossed more than $3 billion at the worldwide box office.  From the time he was 15 working at LucasFilm, to being a Production Assistant on the Warners lot at 16, he knew he wanted to be a director.  At a young age, he pursued photography, a field in which he would go on to win multiple awards, while cultivating his artistic vision for the future.  His work evolved from Super 8 to 35mm, and by the age of 24, he’d directed some of the most acclaimed advertising campaigns in the world and won nearly every award bestowed in the advertising industry, including the Grand Prix Clio for Commercial of the Year for the “Got Milk?/Aaron Burr” spot.

Bay found his voice as a storyteller -- his forté became fast-paced, action-packed drama with just the right hint of comedy thrown in.  His first feature film, “Bad Boys,” starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, was a resounding success, coming in as Sony’s highest-grossing picture of 1995.  In 1996 he scored an even bigger hit with the “The Rock,” starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris.  Grossing more than $335 million worldwide, the film was one of the top-five releases of 1996.  Next up was “Armageddon” with Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Liv Tyler which earned $550 million, followed by “Pearl Harbor,” “Bad Boys 2” and “The Island.”  Michael Bay became synonymous with a wild ride at the movies.

His production company, Bay Films, remains one of the most cutting-edge production companies in Hollywood today while Platinum Dunes, a company he formed with partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, was founded to give talented commercial and video directors an opportunity to break into the feature world. Platinum Dunes is the one of the most successful Horror genre labels in the business, producing such hits as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), “The Amityville Horror” (2005), and this year’s “Friday the 13th, which pulled in the highest grossing opening weekend for horror of all time.

ShoWest is the largest annual convention for the motion picture industry. It is the only international gathering devoted exclusively to the movie business and the single largest international gathering of motion picture professionals and theatre owners in the world. The 2009 edition of ShoWest will be held March 30 – April 2, 2009 at Bally’s and Paris Las Vegas and is expected to draw more than 5,000 members of the motion picture industry.  Each year, ShoWest attracts delegates from more than 50 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.  ShoWest is produced by the Film Group at Nielsen Business Media, the leading trade show producer in the U.S. The Film Group also includes ShowEast, CineAsia, Cinema Expo International and Film Journal International. Nielsen Business Media also produces the Film Group’s sister publication, The Hollywood Reporter.

 

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