Ralph Winter is a top Hollywood producer who has worked on such films as The X-Men, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country, Inspector Gadget, Left Behind and more. Not bad for a History major at UC Berkeley. After graduating from college, Ralph got a job making industrial training videos for a department store. That led to a stint with Paramount doing post-production work on old TV shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi and Mork and Mindy . His first producing work came on the Star Trek 3 movie. Things took off at light-speed from there. With his career seemingly in cruise control, Ralph walked away from one of the biggest opportunities of his life. He was offered a chance to work on the next James Bond film. Who wouldn’t want that on their resume? But Ralph walked away from it to spend more time with his family in southern California. “It’s all about what you value as success,” says Ralph. “How successful do you need to be? How much money do you need to make? And all those issues that play into it...and for me, what I’ve chosen is my marriage of 30 years, and kids, and everything else. That’s more important.” Ralph’s choice gives evidence that you don’t need to give up a career to be a good husband and father. After that decision, Ralph got a job, minutes from his home, producing a TV show for Steven Spielberg, High Incident . Since then he has become a top Hollywood producer involved in numerous projects including short films, television and feature films. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences . He is also a juror for the Damah Film Festival , a unique event focusing on spiritual experiences in film. His co-star in life is his wife Judy.
The fact that God has a sense of humor isn’t lost on Ralph Winter, producer of such films as Planet of the Apes , the X-Men series and three instalments in the Star Trek movie franchise. Ralph describes his road to Hollywood as a “ wonderful journey of God’s mercy, humor and grace .” That’s the only way he can explain how someone who doesn’t have any relatives in the movie business and who never even dreamed of working in Hollywood could be making such high profile films.