Biography

Damian was born in Albuquerque New Mexico to Antonia Cardella, an artist, and Brian Drago a food and beverage entrepreneur. Growing up he was obsessed with Star Wars like most people were, however, his passion for the films was how they were made. At six years old, he started taking acting classes at the Albuquerque Children's Theatre. His home was on the stage, in front of a camera, or behind a typewriter, crafting plays, poems, and short films, until he graduated from Highland High school were he was cast in 12 of 14 main stage productions and was the first student allowed to direct a play since 1977, choosing Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

Upon graduating, having been accepted into the acting programs at CalArts, The College of Santa Fe, and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, he made his way east to join the studio program at AMDA. A year after enrolling, a family financial disaster struck, forcing him to return to the Southwest. When he returned he continued to act at the University of New Mexico, and at community theaters.

In 2000, he struck out for Los Angeles, to become a working actor. Over the next seven years he worked a myriad very odd jobs while pursuing his dream and continuing his training. Finally realizing that his love for the art of acting outweighed his drive to make it into a profession, and he enrolled at the Los Angeles Film School as a double major in Post Production and Cinematography to start a career behind the camera as a director.

From 2008 until the present, Damian has worked in Post Production as a film editor on five feature films, a visual effects artist on over 80 movies and television series, written or co-written 10 screenplays, and now has two films in development at his production company Wolfdragon Films, with his business partner Jesse Randell.

His first feature as a director, High Adventure is slated to begin principal photography in 2024. To be followed up with Cold Fear a horror thriller set in a blizzard, and Abstraction, a thriller about the dark underbelly of the fine art world.
- IMDb mini biography by: Wolfdragon Films

Son of Antonia Cardella, children's book author of the "Two Fine Ladies" series from Random House (written under the name Antonia Zehler).