Sara May Launches Sonderworld with Goodfellas Backing
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- Sara May launched Sonderworld, a French action and genre banner backed by Goodfellas, after stepping down from Netflix in 2024 following a six-year tenure as Director of Content Acquisition EMEA where she was instrumental in getting "Lost Bullet" off the ground.
- Sonderworld hired Véronique Cuilhe—whose credits include "Taken" and "Hitman" from her Mars Film and EuropaCorp years—as General Manager, while May serves as Founder/President.
- Goodfellas secured a first-look deal for international sales and co-productions on all Sonderworld projects, with the company currently packaging six films: two action, two elevated genre, one "urban," and one dark comedy/crime feature.
- May plans to "scale quickly" over the next two years, focusing initially on French-language productions while opening to English-language projects "when the scope is big enough for the market."
- May said Sonderworld will use AI tools in a "creator-first, always" approach, and identified UK producers as a priority for cross-pollination: "there are talents in the UK who would really work with the talents we have in France and vice-versa."
- May will be in Cannes next month presenting Sonderworld projects to potential co-production partners.
Why it matters: A senior Netflix EMEA buyer is converting streaming relationships into independent production infrastructure in Europe, betting that French and European crews can deliver global action IP "at a fraction of the price" of Hollywood. With Goodfellas handling sales and six films already in packaging, Sonderworld debuts at Cannes as a real contender in the French action space that produced "Taken" and "Lost Bullet"—not just another launch announcement.
