“Bipping,” for those unfamiliar with the term, can be described as a “ninja-style car smash and grab.” The perp silently breaks in the window of a car or other vehicle and quickly steals as many valuables as they can grab from the interior.
How a person reacts to the crime depends on who they are. For jaded local residents, bipping is an annoying risk in everyday life. To the likes of the San Francisco Chronicle, entitled tech bros, and frothing right-wing media, the property crime is the harbinger of the City By The Bay being terrorized by the Scarecrow, Bane, and The Joker.
On the other hand, to successful local rapper and cannabis entrepreneur Gilbert Anthony Milam, Jr. aka Berner, bipping shows a side of San Francisco that hasn’t been told yet in film. Now with “Splash City,” the Cookies cannabis businessman puts his money where his mouth is to remedy that story’s absence. After successful screenings in other venues around the country, Berner’s film makes its San Francisco premiere at the AMC Metreon 16 on August 1, 2026.
Elijah (“Slim”) Johnson and Julius (“Juju”) Johnson are brothers struggling to survive life in one of San Francisco’s poorer areas. Older brother Slim has a shot at a better future thanks to his incredible skills at playing basketball. As their single mother works like the proverbial dog to put food on the family table, Slim has stepped up to become a father figure to the younger Juju. The younger brother manages to add a little extra financial support to the family. But he’s doing so by working as part of the car theft crew that ultimately answers to their charismatic boss Darnell (“Dolo”) Ferguson (Quincy “Galaxy” Brooks).
Berner (R)
Brooks’ casting was a stroke of luck. Originally, Berner wanted this rapper and son of S.F. hip-hop legend San Quinn to read for a background character role. But doing one of “Splash City”’s major roles appealed more to Brooks, and it’s to his credit that his performance turned out to be the one that “really excited” Berner. People who’ve seen the film also agree with that assessment.
“Splash City” proudly flaunts its local production credentials. Berner co-wrote the script with Yuba City-based David Mansanalez. His co-director, Alex Ferrufino, hailed from Los Angeles. The soundtrack is filled with songs from Yay Area hip-hop artists. As Berner told this writer, the songs in the film were “either music I grew up with or am listening to now.” Andrew Morgan Smith, Bay Area-based composer of the film’s musical score, had previously produced Berner’s music.
Most importantly, this drama was definitely not filmed in San Francisco’s Toronto District. That is, viewers will not get skyline shots to establish the film’s setting is The City before the movie plays out in obvious Toronto locations. Nor do “Splash City”’s visuals limit themselves to such tourist porn images as the Painted Ladies. Those Alamo Square houses may be here, but so are the streets around Embarcadero Center, the Potrero Hill Recreation Center, and the Mission District’s New Hampshire Market.
However, the scenes in Slim and Juju’s apartment were not shot among the Potrero Hill housing projects but on Treasure Island. Berner says that location, along with a spot in Marin, served as base camps for the film’s production.
As the “base camps” reference suggests, making the film turned out to be a big production. The filmmaker mentions having a large technical crew and a large cast, the latter situation necessitating the meeting of SAG requirements. Run and gun filming was eschewed for obtaining police permission to temporarily close off streets for filming.
Reed Shannon as Juju (L) and Zach Sowers as Slim (R) from “Splash City”
The rapper/entrepreneur may have personally spent $2 million to make “Splash City,” But a huge chunk of that money wound up being spent on cars and their windows. The actors needed to be trained to pop windows. Bipping shots needed to be redone for quality purposes. And of course there was the cost of changing a lot of windows.
Naysayers who haven’t seen Berner’s film might want a happy ending with yet another right-wing traditional nuclear family uber alles celebration. But that’s not what “Splash City” tells here. The movie’s co-director/co-writer explains that his film’s story shows that even when a person may have “a great home, a great family, and even a great role model,” they can still be led into a wrong direction in life. That’s a story that Berner feels hasn’t been told often enough.
The man bankrolling “Splash City” doesn’t see his film as supporting the right wing image of San Francisco going down the tubes because of crime. Bipping is something that still happens on San Francisco’s streets, and it would be wrong to ignore or downplay that fact.
Yet his take is a little more sophisticated than the same old same old “put more cops on the street and crime will magically go away” remedy. Prosecuting apprehended bippers instead of just fining them would eliminate a loophole exploited by these car smash-and-grabbers. On the other hand, bipping is also an act of economic survival. The City’s getting more “gentrified, small family businesses are closing down, and there’s not much you can do for work.” Berner feels that for those who want to survive, they do what they can, including “finding loopholes.”
Reed Shannon as Juju (L) and Quincy Brooks as Dolo (R) from “Splash City”
“Splash City” brings to fruition an idea inspired by an incident that happened to Berner years ago. An innocent looking kid was trying to sell him obviously boosted stuff. The film’s co-writer didn’t buy anything but he did start wondering what led the kid to this point in his life.
The kid was what Berner described as a “wild card.” The would-be seller later popped up on the news as being involved in a high-speed chase involving a Tesla cybertruck. Lately, he’s been trying to turn his life around.
As mentioned above, Berner spent $2 million of his own money to make “Splash City.” This writer asked the film’s co-creator what untold San Francisco stories he’d tell if he had a $10-40 million budget. The rapper/cannabis entrepreneur replied “a film about the role San Francisco played in marijuana trafficking.” He’d draw from his knowledge as a kid about secret grows in the Sunset District. Fake laundromats would also be involved. Alternatively, he’d do a San Francisco-based “Asian ‘Goodfellas’” tale. The future filmmaker grew up with lots of Asian kids and he knows about the Asian Mafia.
With previous showings of this film being received with sold-out screenings, Berner might very well have his wishes for making future films come true.
(While the August 1 Metreon screening appears to be sold out on Fandango, there are hopes of further theatrical screenings before “Splash City” hits VOD and streaming.)
