If you’d like a bullet point list of Erik de Jager’s achievements, the biography on his LinkedIn profile will give you all the information you need, but this is not the place to quantify the value of a person’s life by statistics. Sure, we can mention that he undercut the entire music video industry straight out of film school and ended up creating approximately 400 music videos in five years, produced over 150 commercials for blue-chip brands and has 20 awards and nominations to his name, but this is not how Erik defined himself, nor other people.
As a young boy, Erik realised that he wanted to be a visual storyteller when he saw Christopher Reeves soar through the sky as Superman. In film he found a platform to express his incessant search for the truths that made life and human nature beautiful and exciting. This unbridled tenacity meant that Erik never worked for anyone aside from himself, running three companies throughout his life, Fingerprint Filmmakers, Threshold Collective and whatwewant Branded Entertainment respectively. He also founded the Tsunami Disaster Fund SA, and raised over R11 million to aid those affected by the 2004 tsunami disaster.
Erik enjoyed experiencing his passion rivalled in his employees. He didn’t look for people with the longest track record or the most achievements, but the youths of a passionate, new and challenging generation. Many industry stalwarts (directors, producers, animators, composers and the like) will tell you that Erik was the person that gave them a job when no-one else would. He was interested in seeing how far passion could carry someone, exposing them to industry-level work with a university level skillset, as this was how he first came to success.
He was a dreamer, quick to romanticise the power of storytelling and the uncertain future of exponential technologies (which was a very certain future to Erik). Where other people saw automation as a scourge upon employment and economies, Erik saw the human race liberated from the shackles of unnecessary labour, free to be creative, think and empower one another. Where others saw A.I. as the downfall of the human race, Erik saw its evolution. He frequently mentioned that should he die, he would like to be brought back to life like the Philip K. Dick android, or have his accumulated social media presence collated, uploaded into the cloud, transferred through space and 3D-printed on a distant planet. He was truly a thought leader that always ignored the impulses of fear and always imagined excuses for us to hope.
And of course, there was virtual reality, a medium that reinvigorated his passions for visual storytelling and lifelong learning. To Erik, VR meant infinite possibilities, education could finally be for every kind of child, and a return to learning by playing. This journey culminated in his final work, ‘The Vodacom Virtual Reality Experience’.
Above all else, Erik’s biggest inspiration was his two children, Sacha and Tayla, who both reflect his fearless, passionate and unforgettably rambunctious nature.
By Cole Matthews
