Ralph Winter

Hollywood Producer

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 among others. 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 III 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? 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.