Michael McDermott's career in Mainland China and Hong Kong spans3decades: fromstudent, to diplomat, to one of the first Western film/TV producers in Mainland China.
Seeing the potential for facilitating international co-productions in China, in2001 McDermottestablished Gung-Ho Films in Beijing.
Since then he and his talented team have built the business into one of the leading film andTV production service companies in Mainland China and Hong Kong, with offices in BeijingShanghai, and Hong Kong.
McDermott's Gung-Ho Films has been involved in many highly acclaimed projects, includingthe Academy Award winning films "Her", directed by Spike Jonze, and "An InconvenientTruth"starring former US Vice-President Al Gore.
In addition, McDermott is honoured to have worked with the multiple Oscar-winning directorAlejandro Gonzales Iarritu, legendary Mainland Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, andOscar-winning director Oliver Stone.
Gung-Ho Films has also helped produce Mainland China and Hong Kong segments of a longlist of award-winning TV shows including: "Master Chef","The Amazing Race","The DailyShow with Jon Stewart","Better Late Than Never","Louis CK", and "Who Do You Think YouAre".
In the TV commercial space, Gung-Ho has worked on over 100 large-scale productions inMainland China and Hong Kong for companies like: Nike, Adidas, BMW, P&G, McDonaldsApple, Citibank, General Motors, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Tumi Luggage,LouisVuitton,Vodafone, Samsung, American Express, XBOX, GM, Intel, Gucci, Estee Lauder,Christian Dior, etc.
In addition, McDermott's Gung-Ho Films has produced projects for well-knownphotographers: Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Brigitte Lacombe, andSteven Klein.
McDermott earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA. He attended a masters degree programat Tamkang University in Taiwan, and studied at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy.
McDermott also hails from a Hollywood family. His father was a pioneer in the TV industry,running one of the first independent TV production companies in the US. His mother was aBroadway, radio, and TV actress.
McDermott is a member of the Producers Guild of America.