WORLD'S LEADING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Dreamer Spotlight: Ralph Belance
Ralph Belance’s story sounds like one you’d hear in the movies—persistence, taking extraordinary measures, working toward greatness—but Ralph doesn’t want to be the subject of movies, he wants to make them.
This 2007 LA program graduate decided within days of arriving at the UofD program that he wouldn’t be returning home, and he’d do anything to ensure it. Though busy with his internship at FOX TV and enjoying every minute with the Dreamers, Ralph kept his passion at the forefront of his mind and enrolled in summer classes at a college in LA so that he could continue work toward a degree in media production. He spent his days completing mundane internship tasks, he spent his evenings completing his assignments for school, and he spent his nights and weekends soaking in the LA experience of glitz and glamour with his Dreamer cohorts, the self-named Falcon’s Nest.
Ralph worked hard at FOX to build a reputation based on his work ethic rather than his status as an intern. Dressing better than most employees by wearing suits every day (and hiding his intern badge as often as possible), he was often mistaken for a company executive. People who had worked there far longer than he were holding open elevator doors for him and addressing him as “sir.” Of course he never let them think otherwise.
His now-or-never attitude fueled his determination to succeed, and with access to the company’s directory of employees, Ralph sent an e-mail to the president of FOX Network Television requesting a meeting to present some of his ideas for the network. Much to Ralph and his coworkers’ surprise, it worked. His assertiveness paid off and he found himself pitching his ideas regarding the company’s marketability to a younger generation with the man he’d call “sir” and for whom he’d hold the elevator.
With his internship coming to a close, Ralph decided to pursue something a little closer to his dream of filmmaking: he’d shoot for an internship at FOX Searchlight Pictures. In order to get a shot at the job, Ralph was asked to write a marketing plan for the company in one night—a task assigned by a manager without an open position who thought the task impossible—and in 24 hours Ralph turned in an 11-page plan. Upon seeing Ralph’s motivation, the manager created a position for Ralph that was better than the one for which he had originally applied. Again, his assertiveness paid off.
Now that he had an internship lined up for after the program, Ralph would need to find a place to live—a tall task to accomplish in LA, especially with only two days’ notice. Turning again to his skills in communication and assertiveness, Ralph pleaded with a man who was subletting his apartment to let him have it with no money down—he would help the man move out and paint the place as payment. Telling the man, “You’re the one deciding factor of whether I take a plane home tonight or stay in LA to pursue my dream,” Ralph won his case. He moved in until the school he was attending could offer him housing.
Now finishing up school and working a dual internship for FOX Searchlight Pictures and FOX Atomic Studios, Ralph is getting closer to achieving his goal of working in movies. He has completed a portfolio for FOX and is working with producers and film festivals while still obtaining his degree. With a knack for establishing contacts in the industry, Ralph is often told he’s achieved more in a matter of months in LA than most people do in years.
He says he’s done this by following one simple pattern: when he gets to a comfortable place, he picks himself up and throws himself right back into an uncomfortable place that will create more opportunities for him on his path to achieving greatness.
He lives by a quote from former President Calvin Coolidge in order to stay focused on his goal and to find the motivation to put himself back in an uncomfortable place:
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence! Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent… Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb…
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts…. Persistence, determination, and energy will conquer all things!"
Step by step Ralph continues with persistence, determination, and energy. And with the drive to realize his dream of achieving greatness, he might not be as far away as he thinks.
