Michael Bay directed a Gothic music video for Meat Loaf in 1993 using a concept and budget framework originally developed by David Fincher.
- Meat Loaf hired Michael Bay to direct the 1993 music video for “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” after David Fincher’s budget quotes proved too expensive.
- Propaganda Films producer Joni Sighvatsson said that Bay directed the video using Fincher’s initial visual concept for a reduced budget of $750,000.
- The resulting short film became a defining 1990s music video, blending Bay’s cinematic stylistic choices with Fincher’s dark aesthetic.
Michael Bay and David Fincher crossed paths while working at the production company Propaganda Films during the early 1990s. Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum documented in their 2011 book I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution that Fincher held an established reputation within the company due to his extensive commercial and music video output.
Colleagues recalled that Bay frequently observed Fincher’s working methods around the office, leading some staff members to view him as a younger counterpart to the more experienced director.
That internal dynamic shifted when musician Meat Loaf approached Fincher with a proposal for a “Beauty and the Beast” narrative structure for his upcoming single. According to Meat Loaf, Fincher initially embraced the concept but quoted a production price tag of $2.3 million. When the singer balked at the figure, Fincher returned with a reduced budget proposal.
“So he came back a few days later and gave me a budget of $1.7 million. I said, ‘David, we don’t have that kind of money.’ And Fincher said, ‘Well then, get Michael Bay.’ That’s the last time Michael Bay was the cheaper option.”
said Meat Loaf, as detailed in I Want My MTV.
Accounts regarding the transition of the project differ between the musician and the production staff. Propaganda Films producer Joni Sighvatsson offered a different perspective on how the handoff occurred between the two directors.
“Fincher was very expensive. He and the label were at an impasse over the Meat Loaf video, so I said, ‘Why don’t we just give this to Michael Bay?’ Fincher gave it to Bay, we ended up spending $750,000, and it was a seminal video. Michael directed, and it was David’s concept. That was the first and last time Fincher and Bay collaborated,” said Sighvatsson.
| Director | Initial Proposed Budget | Final Project Cost |
|---|---|---|
| David Fincher | $2,300,000 (Later reduced to $1,700,000) | Unproduced |
| Michael Bay | Not specified | $750,000 |
The resulting 1993 visual accompaniment for “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” displayed distinct aesthetic signatures from both filmmakers. The finished project featured Bay’s inclination toward dramatic lighting, sunset framing, and heightened cinematic compositions. Simultaneously, the production retained the darker, Gothic atmosphere originally aligned with Fincher’s intended vision.
While the precise mechanics of the handoff remain subject to differing recollections by the participants, the project stands as a singular intersection of two major commercial and feature film directors before their respective transitions into blockbuster Hollywood filmmaking.
