Thread ID: 19dc34458c745dae
Date: Thu, 7 May 2026 00:09:39 +0300
From: Maroun NAJM <mnm@cultscale.com>
To: Ronny Mouawad <ronnymouawad@gmail.com>, Aya Blouchi <aya.blouchi@gmail.com>
Cc: Tracey Mair <traceym@tmpublicity.com>
Subject: Re: THE BAKER - Feature film

Hey Ronny, Aya, Tracey,

Thanks Ronny. All well here. Hope same with you.

I've gone through the screenplay, the deck doesn't do it justice.

But more importantly, especially for Cannes, It is missing a strong
audience case.

If the film is framed mainly as Lebanese diaspora plus regional crime
audience, the question I'd want us ready to answer is: why does it need to
be a USD 10M film? To protect the budget ask, potential partners need to
see who else cares, and why.

I'd suggest a focused 45-minute call on the below:

   1. *Core audience.* Who outside the Lebanese audience should feel
   personally hit by Fredric's story?
   2. *Theme.* Is the contradiction inside Fredric the emotional key, or is
   there a sharper formulation? *Great men are almost always bad men*?
   3. *Three selling scenes.* Which scenes sell both the thriller promise
   and the emotional argument in a trailer, deck, or meeting? Key for cast
   discussions.
   4. *Cannes asks.* Any specific co-production, sales, buyer feedback,
   cast, finance partner, MENA partner fit, or introductions? What is the
   timeline like for you?
   5. *Australian financing / incentive framework.* Which incentives and
   funding sources are assumed, what are the eligibility conditions, what is
   cashflowable, and how does it all fit together?

-- mnm ▸◂