Biography

Damian John Harper is an award-winning writer and director whose career trajectory spans high-profile international film festivals and major commercial IP. He recently served as a director on the highly anticipated StudioCanal fantasy franchise Woodwalkers.

Harper's prestige is rooted in his features, which have consistently secured top-tier industry recognition and distribution. His feature screenplay, Los Ángeles, was recognized as an Academy Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist. Premiering at the 64th Berlinale, it went on to win the L.A. Muse Prize at the LAFF and the prestigious First Steps Award (the German equivalent of the Student Oscar).

His sophomore film, In The Middle Of The River, was penned during a residency at the exclusive Canes Cinéfondation Résidence, commissioned by ZDF/ARTE, and went on to win the German Cinema New Talent Award for Best Screenplay at the Munich Film Festival.

Harper's unique perspective is grounded in his background as a magna cum laude Anthropology graduate who worked as an ethnologist with the Zapotec people in Southern Mexico and as an underwater cave diving instructor in Brazil. This uncompromising approach to narrative was first showcased in his award-winning short, Teardrop, which was invited to over 50 international competitions.

He works internationally between Los Angeles, Berlin, and Munich.
- IMDb mini biography by: Damian John Harper