Ralph Christians was born in Germany. He studied Social Sciences and Communications in the seventies, and became editor for a nationwide satirical magazine and later editor-in-chief for a daily newspaper. After a year as a radio presenter he joined the film industry in 1980 as a journalist, working for news and political magazine programmes, and produced his first films, mostly investigative documentaries, for public broadcasters in Germany.
Ralph set up MAGMA in Germany and Iceland in 1984, and from then on worked exclusively as a producer, writer and television journalist.
In 1994 he founded MAGMA Ireland, which became the headquarters of all MAGMA activities two years later.
The Magma Group has become one of the major players of
animation in Europe, specialising in CGI movies, while the live action department has a number of TV thrillers in advanced development. Magma runs Ulysses Films and Pictorion Magma Animation in Germany as well as Ulysses Films in Northern Ireland.