MANILA, Philippines – As a young man watching movies in Makati City, growing up in the Philippines and studying advertising, Ronnie del Carmen never thought he would one day work in one of the world’s best animation studios. 

Right now, 26 years after he left the Philippines, he’s back home to celebrate a major career milestone – the premiere of Inside Out, which he co-directs with filmmaker Pete Docter. Watch him draw the character Sadness from Inside Out with Pete at the Philippine premiere of the movie on August 7: 

If you’re a young creative just starting our in your field, Ronnie gave a great piece of advice during a press conference for the movie Friday, August 7. 

Filipino-American Ronnie, 55, hails from Cavite City and moved to the US in 1989, at 29. “I didn’t plan to be in animation, I didn’t plan to be in the movie industry, I just fell into it,” he said. 

Ronnie majored in fine arts at the University of Sto Tomas and even worked in advertising before eventually moving to the US, discovering a career in animation. At Pixar, he works with the best of the best, including other Filipinos, a group called the “Pixnoys.” (READ: Meet Ronnie del Carmen, Pinoy co-director of Pixar hit ‘Inside Out’)

“I didn’t dream these things. I was lucky enough that people believed in me enough to actually hire me in these positions.” Inside Out director Pete Docter invited Ronnie work on Pixar’s Up, and also invited him to co-direct Inside Out. 

If you remember that beautiful opening sequence featuring a young Carl and Ellie falling in love, well, Ronnie headed up the storyboarding for that. 

Ronnie then went on to say that no matter what industry you’re in, you should do what you love – and continue creating so you can get feedback.

“You’re passionate about [whatever it is that you do]. Such that if somebody tries to tell you ‘You maybe shouldn’t be doing that,” you can’t help it, right? You can’t help it, you have to do it anyway.” (WATCH: Pinoy ‘Inside Out’ co-director Ronnie del Carmen draws surprise for Pixar fans)

Ronnie adds that regardless of your doubts about your skill, you should still make something – don’t be paralyzed into inaction. “Even if nobody hires you to do it, make something. You finish it, complete the task.” 

The next step, he said, is to show someone your work and get feedback in order to know how to fix the mistakes that you made. And while nobody wants to hear negative things said about their hard work, Ronnie says that the only way to get better and to stop merely dreaming is to not let that fear of failure hold you back. (WATCH: ‘Inside Out’ directors Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen on mind-blowing Pixar fan theory) 

“And [having the mentality of not wanting to fail] means you don’t finish it because you’re afraid that whatever you do is not good enough, so you don’t do anything. And then when you don’t do anything, years go by, you still believe that ‘I could be a great whatever,’ but you still haven’t done anything!”

So what are you waiting for? As Ronnie said, “Do something, finish it, show it to people, get feedback; you will get to all of your dreams eventually.” – Rappler.com