Ok so I'd change some of these variables to follow our variable naming scheme. Typically variables should be like_this using underscores. retHolder kinda seems off when the rest of the code doesn't use that format.

Might I suggest something more descriptive such as:

<pre>
recName -> record_name
retHolder[1] -> filename
</pre>

Also you're returning a tuple so your code could be more clear using tuples. So instead of:

<pre>
     retHolder = self.controller.load_backend(presentation)
</pre>

You can use this:

<pre>
    initialized, filename = self.controller.load_backend(presentation)
    if initilized:
        return True, filename
</pre>