Ernest grew up in Kathelong on the East Rand. He still recalls vividly watching Sarafina with his parents and the impact it had on him as a youngster. Ernest: ‘It was the first movie I saw where people looked like me, spoke like me and the environment was familiar. I couldn’t fathom that they were acting. The experience completely changed my life. I realized that they would let us tell our own stories and then I knew it was what I wanted to do.’ After losing both his parents when he was 14, Ernest was determined that he would make them live on through his art. If you’ve ever had the privilege of working with him on set, you might have noticed that he shoots under the pseudonym ‘H. Spencer’- a homage to his late mom and dad; Helen and Spencer.

‘Every time I see that in shot it makes me feel like I’m protected. It’s important because they gave up everything for me to have the life I have.
I don’t have a lot, but I’ve got enough. I get to do what I love every single day’. 

After his loss, Ernest focused his attention on rugby, joining one of the many travelling rugby clinics that went around South Africa after the Springboks won in ’95. Ernest: ‘Rugby gave me a chance out of the hood. I found a real love for the game and it has given me everything. It gave me the opportunity to stay at boarding school, which meant I was off the streets.’ Ernest was on the verge of signing a professional contract with the Lions when he tore his ACL. Despite a successful surgery, the time had come to leave rugby behind him. Little did he know that he was about to embark on something much greater (yes, believe it or not, there are things greater than rugby).

After completing his film studies at AFDA, Ernest joined Ireland Davenport as a copywriter, winning the first pitch he ever worked on, for Vodacom. He was there for 5 years, spending time with and learning from every single department and getting to know the ropes of the industry. Ernest: ‘I’m serious about this. I’ve got no plan B. This is it. If it doesn’t work out it must never be because I wasn’t ready.’

Under the mentorship of Philip Ireland (founder and former chairman of Ireland Davenport), Ernest began edging closer toward realising his dream of making a feature film. It took him a total of 4 years to raise enough money, saving 90% of his salary every month and spending a further 3 years promoting the film. But listen up, they only had budget for 7 days of filming and they did it, they made a great film! If you don’t believe us, just ask The Academy, they’ll show the film’s official entry into the Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film category in 2015. ‘Thina Sobabili: The Two of Us’, is entirely in Zulu with English subtitles and they managed to win 8 international awards, including a standing ovation from 600 Canadians at the Toronto Film Festival. According to Ernest, the lesson here is ‘just trust your dope’.

Fresh off the success of Thina Sobabili, Ernest was inundated with offers from production companies around South Africa, but to him, the choice was easy. Daniel Kaplan, Executive Producer of Bioscope Films, had, over the years, formed a solid relationship with Ernest, always checking in on his career. When Ernest felt he was ready, he phoned Daniel and set up a meeting. Ernest: ‘When someone gives you a shot, you don’t want to disappoint them. Whenever someone trusts you with their name, you make sure that that name is always number one. That’s how it works.’ After a month with Bioscope, Ernest won his first pitch…#Boom

Have you ever heard of spinning? No, not the torture chamber at Virgin Active. Spinning has been an official sport in South Africa since 2010 and according to Ernest, it’s bigger than soccer. Basically, people skid around in circles doing death defying stunts in and around their cars. Kind of like some of our Uber drivers, amiright?! After Ernest directed the hugely successful So You Think You Can Spin on eTV, averaging around 1 million viewers on Friday afternoons at 17:30, he and a few friends decided to put together an official league. The National Spinning Premier League (NSPL) will launch in November with Ernest as Creative Director.

‘I’m not kidding you, this is like the birth of Kwaito. Like before Kwaito became mainstream it felt exactly like this.
This is not a global sport – this is a 150% South African sport. Trust me, you’ll remember this conversation. You’ll say ‘we were there.’ 

It certainly feels like right now Ernest is enjoying the summer of his life and one day we will proudly say ‘we were there’.

Produced by the iDidTht Content Studio
Credits: Writer – Anne Hirsch / Art Director – Julie Maunder

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