Erich William Hauptmann, 25, of Los Angeles, CA, died as a result of a fall at the film studio where he worked. Erich was born in St. Louis, MO to Randal and Beverly (Suko) Hauptmann. He was their only child. He graduated from Oswego High School, Oswego, IL in 2003. In 2008 he received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was a member of Sigma Phi Delta fraternity. His employment with Digital Domain, the award-winning special effects studio in Venice, CA was a dream come true for him.



He worked on THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, GI JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, STAR TREK, SPEED RACER, and 2012. He is credited as Technical Assistant for PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Shortly before his death he was promoted to Assistant Technical Director of the Commercials division and participated in the production of the first 3D cinema spots ever created for a consumer electronic brand, the Samsung LED TV.





One of Erich's managers said: "Erich was able to cross the line between artist and engineer, teacher and student, colleague and friend. ... [He] earned the respect of his colleagues by his sheer motivation, proving that he could tackle any problem thrown his way, no matter how difficult."




Erich had many interests. He enjoyed kayaking, hiking, scuba diving, and running. He loved cars and talking about cars. He worked for the game company Volition while in college and had recently begun designing a line of furniture made of carbon fiber. He was a world traveler and documented it with photographs. He was a writer. He composed music. He had friends all over the globe that he kept in contact with.




Erich was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Joy and Maxine Hauptmann, and his maternal grandfather, William Suko. He is survived by his parents of Marina, CA and his grandmother, Leona Suko, of Custer, SD and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. A celebration of his life was held in Santa Monica, CA followed by interment in the Monterey City Cemetery, Monterey, CA.