“Catch me if you Cannes”: Zulu Alpha Kilo film shines a light on scam work in awards shows

In an industry obsessed with awards, some will go to any lengths to win. Once again, Zulu Alpha Kilo (Z.A.K.) is holding up a mirror to that madness with the hilarious release of “Catch Me If You Cannes,” a follow-up to their 2022 satire “Left-Handed Mango Chutney”.

Premiering last night at Strategy’s Agency of the Year competition in Toronto, the film was part of the show’s tradition of shortlisted agencies creating self-promo videos. Z.A.K. has often used this opportunity to challenge the industry’s sacred cows and “Catch Me If You Cannes” is no exception.

The film opens inside a high-security prison, where hardened criminals sit in a therapy circle led by a weary counsellor. One inmate admits to embezzling millions from a kid’s charity, another confesses to starting a cult that drained his followers’ life savings, and a third boasts about scamming seniors out of their pensions.

Then Jacob, a chief creative officer, nervously shares that he faked a case video for a Left-handed Mango Chutney, referencing the original video from 2022. He admits to faking the quotes, the footage, the results, even the client. The room falls silent. One inmate lunges at Jacob before being restrained by a guard. Even the counsellor, whose uncle once worked in advertising, is so appalled that she orders Jacob to be “locked in the hole.”

Like many of Zulu Alpha Kilo’s self-aware satires, the film skewers advertising’s worst habits and taboos. Previous efforts include “Living from Work”, a send-up of extreme return-to-office culture,  “A wards Gone Wild”, and the viral hit “Say No to Spec”. Other Z.A.K. favorites included “World’s Worst RFP” and “Billy’s Lemonade”, a satire of holding companies that celebrated agency independence.

“The whole awards process is kind of amusing when you step back. We’re asked to make these ‘case videos’ to explain our ideas, and we’ve all seen ones that stretch the facts just a little too far. We wanted to shine a light on this in a tongue-in-cheek way,” says agency founder and Creative Chairman Zak Mroueh.

As with all previous Z.A.K. films, Mroueh also directed the film through the shop’s in-house production arm, Zulubot, co-creating the idea with Creative Directors Jonah Flynn and Michael Siegers.

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Chief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
CD/Writer: Jonah Flynn
CD/Art Director: Michael Siegers
Account team: Mike Sutton, Amanda Mroueh, Kelly Flynn

Production House: Zulubot
Director: Zak Mroueh
Agency producer: Ola Studulska
Post-Production Company: Zulubot
Executive Producer: Adam Palmer
Line Producer: Amy Groll
Director of Photography: Adam Griffiths
Cam assist: Alex Clark
Location Sound: Rob Morrice
Key Grip: Jesse Rocheleau
Gaffer: Edwin Lau
Swing: Sierra Sun
Script Supervisor: Tyler LePage
2nd AD/ Key PA: Ryan Manning
Hair/Makeup: Aniko Tar
Wardrobe: Sara Lewis
Location contact: Mike Bruce
Director of post-production: Sarah Dayus
Editor: Brian Noon
Colourist and Online editor: Can Yuksel
Assistant editor: Adrian Gluvakovich
Sound Designer and engineer Dino Cuzzolino
Casting: Manning Casting