Sara May spent years as a Netflix executive helping build the streamer’s European slate. Now she’s launching Sonderworld, an action-and-genre banner backed by Goodfellas, operating out of Paris with no studio parent company.
Fauzan Zidni produced original content for Cinesurya. Now he’s running Indonesia’s government-backed Film Agency and planning the country’s first official delegation to Cannes.
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These aren’t typical career moves. They’re structural shifts.
The decentralization of content production is the operating environment. Capital is flowing toward independent operators with institutional backing, whether that institution is a private equity firm or a national government.
Distribution deals that used to require an L.A. office and a legacy studio partnership are happening between Copenhagen-based producers and Prime Video’s European commissioning teams. Franchise management thinking that once belonged exclusively to American broadcast and cable now operates identically in Indian animation studios.
Three patterns explain where the business is headed: who’s building new production infrastructure, what international content is landing systematic acquisition deals, and how proven IP gets extended outside the traditional studio system.
Building From the Outside In
May’s move to launch Sonderworld with backing from Goodfellas is more than another indie banner entering a crowded market. She’s positioning the company as globally minded from day one, developing elevated action and genre features designed to travel.
The bet: streamers and international distributors need exactly this kind of supplier. Experienced operators who understand platform economics but aren’t beholden to a parent company’s quarterly earnings pressure.
Goodfellas’ involvement matters. That kind of institutional capital used to flow primarily toward established production companies with studio deals. Now it’s funding experienced executives building from scratch in secondary markets.
The Paris base isn’t incidental. European tax incentives, crew availability, and proximity to multiple national markets make it viable to run a production company that isn’t trying to sell primarily to American buyers.
The Indonesian government is making a parallel calculation with different resources. Zidni’s election as chair of the Indonesian Film Agency comes with a mandate to establish the country’s presence at Cannes, the industry’s most important marketplace for international pre-sales and co-production deals.
This isn’t cultural diplomacy. It’s industrial policy. Indonesia wants a production sector that can compete for global streaming budgets and theatrical distribution, and it’s willing to fund the infrastructure to get there.
Crime Pays, Especially in Europe
Nordic and Belgian crime content has crossed a threshold. It’s a reliable, repeatable business.
Nordisk Film Production and Reinvent Yellow just closed a three-series distribution deal that includes “Snake Killer” (Prime Video’s first Danish original), TV2 Norway’s “Sogn Murders,” and a third title. That’s a volume commitment.
The structure matters. Reinvent Yellow operates as a sales, financing, and production outfit, packaging projects that combine Nordic public broadcaster funding, streamer pre-buys, and independent distribution rights.
This kind of hybrid financing used to require a studio’s international distribution arm. Now independent operators handle it directly, and platforms are comfortable signing multi-title output deals because the production quality and audience data support it.
Belgian true crime is generating similar traction. “The Deal With Iran,” a three-part docuseries by Lennart and Maarten Stuyck, landed at Canneseries as a buzz title. The series investigates a Belgian-led operation that stopped an Iranian bomb plot against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran. High-stakes geopolitical storytelling that works in any territory with subtitles, gaining visibility with the same international buyers signing those Nordic volume deals.
The pattern: European public broadcasters and streamers co-fund premium non-English content, independent sales companies manage international distribution, and the resulting product is strong enough that platforms commit to multiple titles before seeing audience performance.
That’s a functioning ecosystem operating independently of Hollywood development and financing. For producers and executives thinking about where to invest the next five years of their career, the question is which markets have this infrastructure in place and which are still building it.
Keeping the Machine Running
IP extension is no longer a problem only American studios solve.
CBS wrapped the second season of “Matlock” by closing the Wellbrexa case that anchored the show’s premise, then setting up a time jump to reset narrative stakes for Season 3. Showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman is running the same playbook that kept “Jane the Virgin” going: resolve the central mystery, give characters new problems, justify another season order.
Meanwhile, Vaibhav Studios, the Emmy-nominated Indian animation house, is releasing “Return of the Jungle” theatrically across India on May 29. The music-driven family feature was showcased at Cannes two years ago and is getting a wide release built on brand recognition.
That’s franchise thinking applied to independent animation: build a reputation, get international festival visibility, monetize theatrically in your home market, keep global streaming rights available for platform deals later.
The strategic question is identical whether you’re running a CBS procedural or an Indian animated feature: how do you keep a successful property generating revenue after the initial concept is exhausted? The American answer is narrative time jumps and character evolution. The Indian answer is theatrical releases that build on festival credibility. Both work because IP management tools are globally standardized now.
What This Means
The money is moving toward operators who can build production infrastructure outside the traditional studio system.
If you’re a development executive, a line producer, or a distribution strategist working inside a legacy media company, the exits are getting more attractive. Experienced operators can access institutional capital and government backing to build competing supply chains. The platforms that used to depend on studio output deals are signing directly with independent producers in multiple countries.
For job seekers: pay attention to where new production entities are being funded and what experience they’re hiring for. International co-production skills, platform commissioning relationships, and hybrid financing knowledge are worth more than they were three years ago. Companies like Sonderworld and agencies like Indonesia’s BPI are building teams now. Browse international production and development roles on Mediabistro to see where the hiring is happening.
For employers, decentralization creates both pressure and opportunity. Competing for production talent against independent operators offering equity and creative control? Salary alone won’t close it. But if you’re building one of those independent entities, experienced media professionals are more open to non-traditional opportunities than they’ve been in a decade. Post a job on Mediabistro to reach people who understand platform economics and global distribution.
The content business is fragmenting into dozens of well-capitalized, strategically positioned production entities competing for the same global buyers. The people building those entities used to work for Netflix, CBS, and the major studios. Now they’re working for themselves, and they’re taking the institutional knowledge with them.
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