Born and raised in Dublin, Dermot McCormack is the CEO of 2D Studios & Productions, and the former global president of AOL Studios and Video. Previously, he was the head of connected content at Viacom, managing all digital content for MTV, VH1, CMT, and Logo. In his time working for AOL and Viacom, he pushed the boundaries of the ways in which digital content could expand audience engagement.

McCormack comes from a long line of inner-city Dubliners, including his grandfather, who was a dockworker. Dermot earned a Bachelor’s of Science in electronic engineering from Dublin Institute of Technology and was dubbed by Bono himself as “Digital Dermot from Dublin.”

Though he now has lived longer in the United States than he has in Ireland, he has great pride in his heritage. “I believe as a people we are blessed with an amazing sense of humor, a sense of storytelling like no other, and a deep empathy with the human condition that transcends race,” he says. He currently lives in New York and has three children, Doran, Marco, and Giovanna.