By Michael Howard

February 7, 2026

Bragabilia Energy, an arts and entertainment focused beverage brand, is launching a new independent film investment initiative designed to address what founder Steph Groce describes as a structural inequity in how films access early-stage investment.

“Most filmmakers are pitching for cash,” Groce explained to Vanguard Culture on a recent Sunday in January. “But not all investment is cash – investment also comes in terms of time and network.”

With this idea in mind, Groce has launched The Bragabilia Energy Film Support Program, which combines limited financial investment, brand endorsement, product placement, and – most notably – direct access to investor networks that are typically unavailable to emerging filmmakers.

Under conventional film sponsorship models, brands pay a flat fee in exchange for product placement. Groce says that approach offers minimal return on investment for brands and limited long-term value for filmmakers. “For $10,000, we’ll product place you—that’s how it usually works,” Groce says. “But that’s not a driver of true ROI.”

Instead, Bragabilia issues a Letter of Authority – formal documentation that the brand is actively backing a project. In exchange for product placement, Bragabilia advocates for selected films within its investor ecosystem while also making a financial contribution.

“That letter signals to other investors that someone courageous enough to be first money is already in,” Groce explains. “Once that happens, others are more comfortable stepping in.”

From an investor perspective, Groce applies a familiar startup logic that seven to ten investments may yield only two strong returns. The Bragabilia model, he insists, improves those odds. “By flipping the paradigm and having skin in the game, we move that conversion from two successes closer to five or six,” he asserts. 

Groce positions the program within an entrepreneurial framework, arguing that filmmakers often underestimate their role as business operators. “Filmmakers don’t realize they’re entrepreneurs,” he says. “They only look through a camera lens.”

Groce emphasizes that the film program is not intended to function as a pay-to-play model either. “It’s about being mutually beneficial,” he says. “Bragabilia gets brand value, but the real goal is elevating filmmakers and closing access gaps that shouldn’t exist in the first place.”

The film support initiative is closely tied to Founders Alley, a capital-meets-community investment event Groce is bringing to San Diego in April as part of a four-city tour that includes Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia.

“Our inaugural Founders Alley event raised $170,000 for entrepreneurs,” Groce says. “But more importantly, we had $1.4 billion in assets under management in the room.” Bragabilia-supported films will be introduced both at public-facing Founders Alley events and to private investment offices operating outside the public pitch circuit.

Groce’s stated goal is to finalize a slate of ten films by April 16, coinciding with the San Diego Founders Alley event.

Another unique feature of the program, and unlike studio-run incubators or grant-based programs, Bragabilia’s selections are not made by committee. Groce personally chooses projects based on storytelling potential and filmmaker track record.

“It’s films I personally like,” he relates. “And directors and writers I believe in,” he says. And product quality is important too. “Storytelling is the key component,” Groce adds. “That’s what I’m investing in.”

Early supported projects include shorts and features from filmmakers such as Cali Carpenteri, whose short Dirty Towel screened at Tribeca and the San Diego International Film Festival, and Alec Deeland, a director Groce describes as capable of moving fluidly between documentaries, shorts, and narrative features and who directed the short Vroom Vroom.

Also on Groce’s radar is Shadow Over Hamul by Mauricio Navarro, a folklore-based project rooted in San Diego County history. Stay tuned for an upcoming submission portal for future film considerations. 

Even as Bragabilia blends brand sponsorship with arts advocacy, it’s making inroads in the sports domain as well with its partnership with Oceanside Bombers arena football team. Additionally, it recently announced it is also expanding beyond energy drinks and is preparing to launch Bragabilia Artisanal Water, a bottled water product designed to remove PFAS (“forever chemicals”) and microplastics without stripping natural minerals.

Groce traces this business diversity approach and the origin to the film investment initiative to a line by the late actor Robin Williams: ‘You’re only given just a little spark of madness, and you can’t lose that.’

“That quote reminds us that the small quirks and strange ideas and creative instincts that we have are not flaws,” Groce explains. “They’re sparks.”

In a creative economy driven by gatekeeping and scarcity, Groce’s approach feels almost radical in its simplicity and inclusivity: believe in people, share access, and protect the spark of madness we call creativity.