‘Transformers’ director melts down, exits stage after teleprompter dies

Within minutes of beginning his keynote speech at a Samsung CES event, director Michael Bay abruptly left the stage after his teleprompter malfunctioned.

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One of the most common pieces of advice for a presenter is make sure you are well prepared and have practiced your presentation. Even if you’re using a teleprompter, know your material well enough to wing it if things go wrong.

Unfortunately, director Michael Bay (of “Tranformers” and “Pearl Harbor,” among others) has apparently not learned that lesson.

At a Samsung event Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung Executive Vice President Joe Stinziano introduced Bay to talk about a new, huge, curved television.

After delivering his first couple of lines responding to a scripted question from Stinziano, he had a problem with the prompter.

He was flustered, but he said out loud he would wing it. After another few words, he was clearly flummoxed. Stinziano tried to help him by asking how the curved TV might influence how viewers experience his movie.

At this point, he said, “Excuse me,” and then, “I’m sorry,” twice before walking off the stage.

He blogged about the incident afterward, writing:

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