The film became an internet phenomenon and in 1999 Ernst was accepted to the Directing Program at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles.
His first feature South of Pico (SOP), a character driven drama co-developed with his long-time collaborator Richard Marcus was shot in Los Angeles and premiered at the 2007 American Black Film Festival where it won all three awards it was nominated for.
This documentary lead to Ernst's second feature film The Silent Mountain with William Moseley, Eugenia Costantini and Claudia Cardinale.
Ernst also directed the feature-film segments of 2017 TV-co-production Maria Theresia - Majestät und Mutter (ORF, ARTE, ZDF, Cesky Televise).
He also finished a documentary on the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp 1945 with the title Whom To Tell which premiered at the (Heimatfilmfestival) and garnered the audience award.