Michael Bay enters reality show biz

Michael Bay (Transformers) will team up with Emmy-nominated producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves (Top Chef) to co-produce One Way Out, an action-adventure TV show that pits ordinary folks in a game that apparnetly features “no rules.” The show, which marks Bay’s first foray into reality TV, will include players who have secret pasts that must be kept hidden from their fellow competitors, according to a statement from the producers. Players are forced to adapt to “hostile environments each week” while the action builds to a “climactic showdown,” where all secrets are exposed. Bay and the Magical Elves team are currently shopping the show to the networks.

“For my first television project I wanted to do something that had never been done before, and I believe that One Way Out accomplishes that,” said Bay in a statement. “Combining unique twists, death-defying challenges, and stunning visuals, we are reinventing the genre, showing just how far people will go when they are stripped of their bare necessities and forced to do whatever it takes to survive.”

Bay’s producing partners are among the most prolific in reality TV. Besides Top Chef, Magical Elves is responsible for four other shows on Bravo: Kell on Earth, Work of Art, Top Chef Masters 2, and Top Chef: Just Desserts. The team is also producing America’s Next Great Restaurant, which will debut later this year on NBC, as well as Dance Your Ass Off for Oxygen.

“One Way Out will take the reality adventure genre to the next level,” Cutforth says. “The no-holds-barred format and the intimidating locations will allow a true primal test of endurance to unfold.”