Filipino film producer Ann Michelle Weber of Gummy Productions expressed her excitement about her first venture into showbiz, a project aimed at raising awareness of mental health.

"Breaking the Silence' is an advocacy project that tackles mental health awareness, such as bullying and depression," said Ann when asked about the film during its premiere at Trinoma, Quezon City.

Ann recalled that the movie was pitched to her by director Errol Ropero. Immediately, she fell in love with the project.

"And during our meeting, naka-relate ako because I experienced depression, and my children were bullied," the producer said.

Ann admitted she had postpartum depression not once but three times. "Sometimes they don't understand it. Akala nila may drama lang ako. I almost killed myself. But with strong faith in God, I survived it all. I am thankful for the support of friends and family."

On kids being cast in the movie, Ann said, "Maraming kids sa movie na ito, and they are close to me because magkakasama kami sa workshop sa TV5. Regarding the big stars, I trusted our director's judgment. Alam nila ang characters so alam nila kung sino ang bagay doon. (They know the characters, so they know who fits in there.)"

Ann admitted that the only challenge the team encountered during the filming was the weather.

"Ang pinaka-challenging lang talaga sa paggawa namin is yung weather. So now I learned na huwag gagawa ng movie kapag tag-ulan. Na-mo-move kasi yung schedule ng shoot. (The only thing that really challenges us is the weather. So now I've learned not to make a movie when it's rainy. Because the shooting schedule gets moved)," she added.

After watching the film, Ann also hoped people would become more understanding. "The issues about mental health are beginning to be rampant, especially among teenagers. I hope maging careful din sila sa judgment sa mga tao. Not everyone who smiles is fine."

Ann said the movie will be shown in schools beginning Jan. 10. She also said that there are schedules through February. "So far, there are no plans for the film to be shown in the mainstream."

"Breaking the Silence" stars Potchi Angeles, Bugoy Cariño, Shira Tweg, and introducing Gray Weber and Francis Saagundo

Other stars were Ramon Christopher, Pinky Amador, Jeffrey Santos, Rob Sy, Pekto Nacua, Mark Herras, Irish Contreras, Brace Arquiza, Gene Padilla, Patani Daño, Sylvia Manansala, Panteen Palanca, Jerico Balmes, Carl Acosta, Miles Manzano, Shane Carrera, Ryrie Sophia, Zion Cruz, Tokyo Rodriguez, Jared Reyes, Christian Villanueva, Arwen Cruz, Mira Aquino, Erika Palisoc, Chelsea Pergis, Emmanuel Talukder, Achilles Ador, Stanray Clark, Uno Weber, Mavi Weber, Yvo Weber, Mikaela Saldaña, Dirc Manliclic, and Drey Lagrago. Special appearance by: Dr. Lourdes Dimaguila.