Romina Espinosa at http://www.rominaespinosa.com · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bay built a directing style out of speed — fast cuts, wide-angle cinematography, and explosions used as punctuation — starting with Bad Boys in 1995 and continuing through The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the first five Transformers films. His films have grossed over $6.6 billion worldwide, making him the fifth-highest-grossing director in history. He began by directing commercials and music videos for Propaganda Films, winning a Grand Prix Clio for the 1993 Aaron Burr Got Milk? ad before Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson hired him for his first feature.