# THE BAKER: Cannes Deck Meeting Flow Stress Test **Date:** 2026-05-08 **Object tested:** `assets/decks/THE_BAKER_Cannes_Deck.typ` and compiled PDF with annex. **Use:** Internal stress test for live Cannes meetings. **Status:** Updated after the old-deck visual direction import. Deck now includes a dedicated Visual Direction slide. ## 1. Executive verdict The deck is strong as a leave-behind and as a structured 25 to 35 minute pitch. It is too long for a typical 12 to 15 minute Cannes meeting if presented linearly. The main flow risk is that the deck now has two modes inside one PDF: 1. **Main pitch:** slides 1 to 29 2. **Question annex:** annex slides after the close That is useful for a PDF, but in a live meeting the presenter must choose a route. The deck should not be walked slide by slide unless the meeting is long and already warm. Recommended live strategy: > Use the deck as a modular conversation tool. Lead with story and Fredric, show visual direction when the room is creative-led, then jump to the relevant finance, cast, or partner section. ## 2. Current deck flow Main deck: 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 3. The Story 4. The Fault Line 5. The Opening Wound 6. The House 7. Fredric 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 9. How the Film Works 10. Visual Direction 11. The Church 12. The Heirs 13. Magda 14. Director 15. Ronny 16. Producers 17. Cast Strategy 18. Audience 19. Core Map 20. What Travels 21. Windows 22. Finance Structure 23. Australian Offset Model 24. Target Stack 25. Finance Questions by Counterparty 26. Partner Path 27. Core-first Release Logic 28. Cannes Conversation Map 29. Close 30 onward. Annex questions The deck now gives justice to the screenplay and carries the old deck's strongest visual intention. The presenter still has to protect momentum. ## 3. Five-minute version Use this for a corridor or cold meeting. ### Slide route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 4. Fault Line 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 10. Visual Direction, if the room is creative-led 14. Director 22. Finance Structure 28. Cannes Conversation Map ### Talk track > THE BAKER is about a dying patriarch trying to leave a clean legacy, only to reveal how deeply the family house is bound to the violence that built it. Fredric's conversion attempt is the film: blood into bread, money into property, guilt into protection. The fault line is the family name. Who gets to decide what it means when the house was built through violence? Ronny's key scenes are the wedding-night escape in Lebanon, the opening family and Holy Communion movement, and the pull between Fredric's redemption and Magda's revenge. Visually, the film holds grandeur with decay: Baroque Catholic weight, Phoenician memory, chiaroscuro rooms, immersive Communion, and cross-cutting between ritual and violence. Nicholas Lathouris is directing because this needs ritual, action, family, and consequence staged as one system. Financially, we are modelling AUD 8.5M, AUD 10.5M, and AUD 12.5M cases around the Australian Producer Offset. We are at Cannes to pressure-test which version is financeable and who belongs in the package. ### Risk This version may underplay Ronny and Aya as producers unless the person already knows the team. Add one sentence if needed: > Ronny and Aya are producing the Cannes package, with Ronny also inside the film as Vincent. ## 4. Fifteen-minute version Use this for a scheduled but exploratory Cannes meeting. ### Slide route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 4. Fault Line 5. Opening Wound 6. House 7. Fredric 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 9. How the Film Works 10. Visual Direction 12. Heirs 13. Magda 14. Director 15. Ronny 16. Producers 18. Audience 22. Finance Structure 23. Australian Offset Model 28. Cannes Conversation Map ### Why this works This route preserves the screenplay's tragic machine, now includes the visual promise, and still reaches the ask. It does not get stuck in all finance detail. It gives Nicholas, Ronny, and Aya enough presence. ### Risk Slides 12 and 13 may expose too much story if the meeting is finance-oriented. If the counterparty is finance-first, skip Heirs and Magda and go directly from Director or Producers to Finance Structure. ## 5. Thirty-minute version Use this for a warm partner who has time and wants the whole package. ### Slide route Use slides 1 to 29, but pause at four decision points: 1. After slide 10, ask whether they want more creative detail or package detail. 2. After slide 16, ask whether they want to discuss cast, audience, or finance first. 3. After slide 23, ask whether the Australian model is relevant to them or whether to move to partner path. 4. At slide 28, choose the relevant annex slides. ### Risk The full deck can feel like two decks: screenplay and finance. The presenter needs connective tissue. Suggested bridge: > The reason we spend this much time on the house and its visual grammar is that the finance model has to protect the scale of that house: Australia, Lebanon, church, family, action, cast, and consequence. ## 6. Stress test by meeting type ## 6.1 Australian producer, accountant, incentive adviser, or lender ### Best route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 6. House 10. Visual Direction, optional 14. Director 16. Producers 22. Finance Structure 23. Australian Offset Model 24. Target Stack 25. Finance Questions by Counterparty 28. Conversation Map Annex A and B ### What they need to feel - The script has scale worth modelling. - Australia is structurally real, not a tax afterthought. - QAPE drives the finance conversation. - The team understands that numbers are planning cases. - The visual approach justifies why locations, design, and production value matter. ### Where the current deck works Slides 22 to 25 are strong. The offset model is concrete. The Visual Direction slide can help explain why the budget must protect estate, church, club, Lebanon-facing material, and controlled interiors. ### Where it may drag If the meeting is purely finance, slides 4 to 13 may be too much. Keep creative to three slides: Bargain, House, Director. Use Visual Direction only if production value comes up. ### Best opening line > We are not asking you to bless the model today. We want to know how you would build the real QAPE model and what assumptions break first. ## 6.2 French co-producer ### Best route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 5. Opening Wound 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 10. Visual Direction 11. Church 14. Director 16. Producers 22. Finance Structure 23. Australian Offset Model 26. Partner Path 28. Conversation Map Annex C ### What they need to feel - France is being approached for structure, credibility, and European value, not decoration. - Nicholas gives the project craft authority. - Lebanon and Catholic/Maronite ritual give the film European prestige relevance. - The visual approach has formal ambition: grandeur with decay, ritual and realism, chiaroscuro spaces, and moral cross-cutting. - The Australian offset model is already being thought through. ### Where the current deck works Opening Wound, Visual Direction, Church, Director, Offset Model, Partner Path. ### Where it may drag Core Map and Core-first release logic may be less relevant unless the partner is also distribution-minded. ### Best opening line > The question for France is whether it can strengthen the film structurally: co-production, sales confidence, European credibility, and the treatment of Lebanon-facing elements. ## 6.3 MENA partner, film commission, distributor, or services partner ### Best route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 4. Fault Line 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 10. Visual Direction 12. Heirs 13. Magda 15. Ronny 16. Producers 17. Cast Strategy 18. Audience 22. Finance Structure 26. Partner Path 28. Conversation Map Annex C ### What they need to feel - This is not asking MENA to buy a generic crime film. - Cast matters to regional value. - The film contains Arabic and Lebanon-facing material. - The visual world treats Lebanese memory, Catholic ritual, family respectability, and diaspora wealth seriously. - Regional participation can be equity, services, film commission, SVOD, or profile. - Content sensitivity is being taken seriously. ### Where the current deck works Visual Direction, Ronny, Aya, Cast Strategy, Audience, Partner Path. ### Where it may drag Australian Offset detail can become too technical. For MENA, keep finance to one slide unless they ask. ### Best opening line > For the region, the question is not simply distribution. It is what combination of cast, visibility, services, and territory value makes participation meaningful. ## 6.4 Sales agent or distributor ### Best route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 4. Fault Line 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 9. How the Film Works 10. Visual Direction 14. Director 17. Cast Strategy 18. Audience 19. Core Map 20. What Travels 22. Finance Structure 28. Conversation Map Annex D ### What they need to feel - The hook is clear. - The audience can be named. - Shareable scenes exist. - The film has a visual identity that supports trailer and festival value. - Cast strategy is not random. - Budget range can be defended territory by territory. ### Where the current deck works Visual Direction, Audience, Core Map, What Travels, Cast Strategy. ### Where it may drag Slides 23 to 25 are useful for finance but less useful for sales unless the sales agent is also involved in gap or finance planning. ### Best opening line > We need to know which budget case and cast package you can defend by territory before the budget hardens. ## 6.5 Cast representative or talent contact ### Best route 1. Cover 2. The Bargain 7. Fredric 8. Ronny's Scene Anchors 9. How the Film Works 10. Visual Direction 11. Church 12. Heirs 13. Magda 14. Director 15. Ronny 17. Cast Strategy 28. Conversation Map Annex D ### What they need to feel - The role is not generic. - Nicholas makes the film credible. - The visual direction gives actors a world worth entering. - Ronny's authorship gives specificity. - The finance path is serious enough for timing, but not overbearing. ### Where the current deck works Fredric, Visual Direction, Magda, Heirs, Director, Ronny. ### Where it may drag Budget and offset details should be skipped unless the representative asks about timing and financing seriousness. ### Best opening line > This is a role-driven package. The question is whether the actor sees the house, the guilt, and the inheritance as worth entering. ## 7. Flow risks and fixes ### Risk 1: Too much deck before the ask The main deck has 29 slides before annex. A live Cannes meeting may not allow full flow. Fix: Create a presenter route by meeting type. Do not present linearly unless the meeting is warm and long. ### Risk 2: Finance appears late Finance begins at slide 22. For finance meetings, this is late. Fix: Jump from slide 14 or 16 directly to slide 22. ### Risk 3: Producer roles arrive after long creative section Ronny, Aya, and Tracey appear on slide 16. In a short meeting, the producer package may be delayed. Fix: On the cover, verbally say: > The Cannes package is led by Ronny and Aya, with Nicholas directing and Ronny also inside the film as Vincent. ### Risk 4: The annex feels like extra pages rather than a tool The annex is useful only if invoked intentionally. Fix: At slide 28 say: > We built the annex as meeting-specific questions. We can jump to the questions that fit your lane. ### Risk 5: The screenplay gets overspoiled in some meetings Heirs, Magda, and bloodline language can reveal more than needed. Fix: For sales, cast, and MENA, use them. For finance and incentive meetings, keep them shorter. ### Risk 6: The Visual Direction slide may slow the room The new slide strengthens creative identity but adds one more stop before finance. Fix: Use it as a routing slide. Show it to creative, cast, sales, French, and MENA partners. Skip it in pure incentive or lender meetings unless production value becomes the question. ## 8. Recommended deck adjustment after stress test The PDF is structurally useful as a master deck. For live Cannes meetings, create three mini routes or duplicate decks: 1. **Creative and Cast Route** 2. **Finance and Co-production Route** 3. **Sales and Audience Route** If only one deck is maintained, add a one-page presenter guide outside the PDF. ## 9. Presenter guide ### First sentence > This is a screenplay-first Cannes package for a Lebanese Australian family tragedy about a dying patriarch trying to leave a clean legacy, and a house already bound to the violence that built it. ### Second sentence > We are not asking Cannes to close the structure in the room. We are using these meetings to test which version is financeable, who belongs inside it, and what material each serious partner needs next. ### Third sentence > Depending on the conversation, I can take you through the creative package, the visual direction, the Australian offset model, the cast-finance path, or the audience and sales case. ## 10. Final assessment The deck flow works if treated as modular. It may fail if treated as a linear pitch in short meetings. Best use: - Full PDF as leave-behind - Slides 1 to 16 as creative and producer package - Slides 22 to 28 as finance and partner package - Slide 10 as the visual identity bridge for creative, cast, sales, French, and MENA meetings - Annex as live question bank The deck is stronger after the visual-direction import, provided the presenter controls the route.