Edy Ganem ( Devious Maids ), Seth Michaels ( Doom Patrol ), and Patricia Velasquez ( The Mummy ) have been tapped to star in Free Dead or Alive , an indie action thriller written, produced, and directed by Erik Bernard.

The pic follows Eva (Ganem), a beautiful strong-willed young woman, enters a journey to escape her mother’s (Velasquez) arranged marriage to the region’s most dangerous cartel. Her defiance sets off a chain of events that threatens her life. Surviving will require the skills of Dragon (Michaels), a coyote that can protect her during her quest throughout the dangerous world of cross-border cartels who are the law of the lands.

Robert LaSardo, Robert Avellanet, Jonathan Joss, and Al Coronel will co-star. Courtney LeMarco will serve as executive producer.

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Ganem is repped by McKeon/Myones Entertainment, APA and Morris Yorn Barnes; Michaels repped by People Store; Velasquez by Insurge-Ent. and Untitled Entertainment.

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Ben Milliken ( Bosch , Blue Crush 2 ), Richard Kind ( Curb Your Enthusiasm , A Serious Man ), Brad William Henke ( Orange Is The New Black , The Stand ), and Hudson Yang ( Fresh Off The Boa t) will topline The Ray , an eclectic action-thriller from director Christopher Borrelli. Slated to begin production next month in New Mexico, the film is set in the ruins of the Salton Sea and follows Ray (Milliken), a former criminal evading a series of ruthless killers led by eccentric mob boss, Grayson (Kind). Ray finds refuge with a mysterious good Samaritan (Henke), but it soon becomes apparent, however, he has walked into the nest of someone even more dangerous than the killers pursuing him.

Lisa Mathis and Matt R. Allen of Branch Out Productions are producing the film in conjunction with Krista Suh and Gabriel Roth. Milliken and Lamar Billups serve as executive producers through their production shingle, Glass Horse Films.

Borrelli, who recently set up his sci-fi thriller, Void , with Charles King’s Macro and Netflix, is repped by Verve and Chris Cowles. Milliken is repped by RKM; Henke by APA; Kind by Innovative Artists; Yang by Gersh.

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Gravitas Ventures has reigned in the North American rights to Mustang Saviors , the David Glossberg-directed documentary that be will be available to rent and own on digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms on February 16. The doc, which was written by Kirk Demorest, focuses on the high rate of American veterans as well as a powerful and remarkable treatment that pairs Wild mustangs taken straight off the range with veterans. Producers are Glossberg, Demorest, Trudy Schwartz, Alicia Zaragosa, Irene Cazares, and Lisa Diersen. The deal was negotiated by David Glossberg on behalf of the filmmakers and by Nick Royak on behalf of Gravitas.

Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez does not have to prove herself to anyone, but a flash of ego could get her riled up, she recently admitted in an interview.

The singer got candid about the time she upstaged American boy band singer Nick Lachey on the online show “Brightwin Ninangs” last Thursday, Feb. 18.

Velasquez recalled meeting the boy band 98 Degrees and confessed that she was unimpressed with Nick.

“Iyang si Nick Lachey, nuknukan ng yabang. Nuknukan ng yabang! (Nick Lachey has the biggest ego. The most huge ego!)” she exclaimed.

She described his bandmates Drew Lachey (Nick’s brother), Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre as “really cool.”

“Siyempre, medyo oriental ang hitsura ng lola mo so nagagandahan sila sa akin, di ba? Lumalandi-landi ng ganoon nang very light,” she recalled. “Iyong Nick Lachey, ang salbahe!”

(Of course, my features are kind of oriental so they found me attractive, right? [They were] flirting with me a bit. But that Nick Lachey was rude!)

Velasquez was set to perform with them onstage and because she did not like Nick’s behavior, she decided she would outshine him.

“Biruin mo umpisa pa lang, nagmamagaling! Baklang ito. Humanda ka sa akin, hindi ka na maririnig,” she quipped.

(Can you believe that from the start, he was showing off! This guy. You better prepare yourself, you will not be heard.)

“Kinain ko talaga siya,” she declared. (I really upstaged him.)

“Nainis ako kasi parang, ‘Bakla, nasa country ka namin, ha. Huwag kang umarte-arte diyan,’” she added. (I got annoyed. “You are in our country. Do not show give us that attitude.”)

Amused by her story, fans dug up her performance of “The Hardest Thing” with 98 Degrees from a 1999 episode of GMA variety show SOP.

Parang ganito po ba ate @reginevalcasid :)) great number indeed bumingo e hahahaha #QueenRegineXBrightWinNinangs pic.twitter.com/gNXhK98rDU

— Freedom! QMucheng (@theBlackSonata) February 18, 2021

True enough, Velasquez was in full force as she belted over Nick and drowned his vocals out.

The diva is set to reign in her own virtual concert “Freedom” on Feb. 28. Tickets are being sold for P1,200 at ktx.ph, TFC IPTV and iWantTFC. JB

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V stands for Valentine’s and Velasquez because V-day won’t be complete without a Regine Velasquez concert. This year, V also means Virus and Virtual. So, those four kinds of ‘V’ kind of merged. Et voilà Velasquez’s V-day virtual concert “Freedom” was postponed due to Reg’s exposure to a carrier of the (COVID-19) virus.

But any concert of the Songbird is always worth the wait. “Freedom” is finally pushing through at 8 p.m. tomorrow. It’s available on Sky Pay-Per-View for only P1,200 (visit Myskycom.ph/vipaccess).

Regine could very well rest on her laurels, yet she is still willing to sing her heart out. As her hubby Ogie Alcasid puts it, “‘She still yearns to give her audience her very best in spite of the circumstances. She will do it all for the sake of her artistry. She is a wonderful steward of God’s gifts to her.”

“It girls” come and go, but “Bir-It Queen” Reg is here to stay.

Here’s my chat with Reg:

Why did you choose the title “Freedom”?

Because it’s very timely. Freedom from the pandemic is what we all long for. And freedom from COVID-related stress, calamities and problems that ail our country.

How did you feel when your concert was postponed?

I was disappointed because “kasadong-kasado” na ako. In my entire career, it’s the first time my concert got postponed. If I had my way, I wanted to push through with it last V-day. But due to the very strict safety protocols of ABS-CBN, where my concert will be held, I had no choice but to follow orders after being exposed to a COVID-positive person.

During my “Silver” concert, I was paos and yet tinuloy ko pa rin. All artists don’t like postponement because of its financial implications and the possibility of ticket refunds.

When you announced the postponement, you said: “Itaas n’yo na ang expectations ninyo.” So, what can your fans expect?

Prior to the postponement kasi, I kept saying in jest, “Huwag n’yo naman masyadong taasan ang expectations n’yo.”I want to still surprise my audience. I won’t be doing my usual repertoire, except for two songs. They will all be new songs and different genres. There are a few songs which I recorded long ago, but any true fan of mine would be familiar with them.

Is your voice still “birit-ready”?

Kaya pa naman (laughs). I’ve been doing a lot of online miniconcerts during quarantine and “ASAP,” so praktisado ang voice ko. When we were on lockdown and it made me super stressed, my husband encouraged me to sing my woes away while he played the piano. Inaral n’ya lahat ng piyesa ng songs ko para s’ya ang pianist ko.

Please share any quarantine story about you and Ogie.

During the initial months of lockdown, we sent our helpers home to be with their families. So both of us did all the chores. It took a toll on us plus the stress due to the pandemic, so we had three petty quarrels.

In our 10 years of marriage, we never fought. Effect lang ng anxiety attack ‘yun. But looking back, I enjoyed being a full-time housewife and mom for four months.

Are there any of your songs that you’re already “afraid” to sing?

I would rather not sing some of my old songs that I haven’t sang in ages. Hindi dahil ‘di ko na kaya, but if I will second-guess myself, I’m bound to make mistakes.

If I can avoid it, ayokong kantahin ang “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Next request, please (laughs).

‘I Can See You’

Binge-watchers, don’t miss GMA Network’s one-of-a-kind drama anthology “I Can See You” (ICSY), which premiered on Netflix Philippines on Feb. 15. It features four miniseries produced by different teams, with a common visual storytelling device—the use of a camera as a witness to tales of love and mystery from everyday people.

The first installment is “Love On The Balcony,” topbilled by Alden Richards and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. The second series “The Promise” (March 1) stars Andrea Torres, Yasmien Kurdi, Benjamin Alves and Paolo Contis. This is followed by “High-Rise Lovers” (March 15), featuring Lovi Poe, Winwyn Marquez and Tom Rodriguez, and “Truly, Madly, Deadly” (March 29), featuring Jennylyn Mercado, Dennis Trillo and Rhian Ramos. Happy streaming!

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted the establishment media on Wednesday after they continued to question him on maskless Super Bowl celebrations, noting that his critics are selective, only seeming to care about proper masking if the violators are people they “don’t like.”

“You guys really love that. You don’t care as much if it’s a ‘peaceful protest.’” Then it’s fine,” DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday. “You don’t care as much if they’re celebrating a Biden election. You only care about it if it’s people you don’t like.”

“I’m a Bucs fan. I’m damn proud of what they did on Sunday night,” he added:

DeSantis’s claim of selective outrage from members of the establishment media holds true, as Democrat officials largely praised — and in some cases participated in — the mass protests that dominated U.S. cities last year following the death of George Floyd.

Similarly, Democrats flocked to the streets in November after the mainstream media declared President Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was among prominent pro-maskers who tossed his own purported beliefs to the wayside, lowering his mask as he celebrated Biden’s victory with a large crowd of Biden supporters in New York City, once the U.S. epicenter of the Chinese coronavirus:

Sen. Chuck Schumer is celebrating at Grand Army Plaza with hundreds of people. “Our long fight is over,” he tells the growing crowd pic.twitter.com/tmS6x3vw0g

— Josefa Velásquez (@J__Velasquez) November 7, 2020

WATCH: Sen. Schumer sings ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye’ with Biden supporters in Times Square https://t.co/RIt75D691B #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/GaaU6Co6bU

— The Hill (@thehill) November 7, 2020

Chuck also said, “Let’s send Donald Trump back to Florida, we don’t want him here anymore in New York!” pic.twitter.com/Vc3JtsBz62

— Dave Quinn (@NineDaves) November 7, 2020

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) engaged in a similar manner as well:

This is a great day for our city and our country. We are taking our democracy back. #BidenHarris2020 pic.twitter.com/OAZQPd1r4y

— Lori Lightfoot (@LoriLightfoot) November 8, 2020

While the Democrats faced little to no backlash from the establishment media for their own maskless celebrations last year, DeSantis came under fire over his own maskless Super Bowl moment on Sunday.

“Someone said, ‘hey, you were at the Super Bowl without a mask’ … but how the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?” DeSantis said , according to Politico’s Marc Caputo. “Come on. I had to watch the Bucs win”:

Caught DeSantis before he left an event and he brought up this picture on his own by saying, “Someone said, ‘hey, you were at the Super Bowl without a mask’ … but how the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on? Come on. I had to watch the Bucs win.” https://t.co/OEDAeW2eGM

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) February 8, 2021

Unlike blue state governors, DeSantis has not issued a statewide mask mandate in the Sunshine State. As Breitbart News reported this week, “based on the figures, it would seem Florida is faring just as well as blue states — if not better — while simultaneously allowing its residents to enjoy as much personal freedom as possible.”

Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to Alex Noyer ’s slasher pic Sound of Violence , which is set to make its world premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival in March. Gravitas will release the film in theaters and on demand on May 21.

Written and directed by Noyer, Sound of Violence stars Jasmin Savoy Brown (the upcoming Scream revival, The Leftovers ), Lili Simmons ( Ray Donovan, Banshee, Bone Tomahawk ), James Jagger ( Vinyl, The Outpost ) and Tessa Munro ( S.W.A.T. ).

The story follows Alexis, who has recovered her hearing after witnessing the brutal murder of her family when she was ten. The visceral experience awakened synesthetic abilities in her and started her on an orphaned path of self-discovery through the healing tones of brutal violence.

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She goes on to pursue a career teaching and experimenting to find new sounds. She is supported by her roommate Marie who is unaware of the dark secrets behind Alexis’ unique music and the part she unknowingly plays. Faced with the likelihood of losing her hearing again, Alexis escalates her pursuit of her masterpiece through gruesome sound experiments and devastating designs.

“I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by people who believed in my idea of an artist in lieu of a killer,” said Noyer. “From our amazing lead Jasmin Savoy Brown to my producing partner Hannu Aukia, to our cast and crew, this movie came together because of confidence in that vision. Gravitas showed us that same confidence. I am delighted for them to bring it to North American audiences so soon after our World premiere at SXSW.”

Sound of Violence marks Noyer’s feature directorial debut. The film is inspired by his short film Conductor. Noyer also produced documentaries such as A Conversation with Julian Schnabel, New York Influence City and 808 , which debuted at SXSW in 2015.

The film was produced by Noyer and Hannu Aukia. Mike Macari (The Ring trilogy) serves as Executive Producer.

Gravitas Ventures Vice President of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi negotiated the deal with VMI Worldwide’s President of Sales JD Beaufils, on behalf of the filmmakers.