EXCLUSIVE: Jason Hellerstein, a co-founder of Sideshow, is launching 1-2 Special, a new North American film distribution business that specializes in acquiring and releasing movies from festivals both domestically and abroad.

Up to 10 films will be released each year by 1-2 Special, which will start purchasing titles at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. The business is headquartered in New York. This spring, Hellerstein will announce further hires and take over as CEO of 1-2 Special.

“1-2 Special is dedicated to supporting forward-thinking filmmakers and introducing their work to ardent viewers throughout North America,” Hellerstein stated. “We are excited to satisfy the increasing demand for daring, avant-garde films and to refine a model that puts both critical and financial success first.”

A key player in the purchases and promotion of 19 titles, such as Drive My Car, EO, All That Breathes, and All We Imagine as Light and Flow, Hellerstein was a co-founding executive of Sideshow. The ensemble made over $11 million at the North American box office and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning one.

Drive My Car was acquired by Sideshow in 2021 as part of a collaboration with Janus Films. The movie received four Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and went on to earn over $2.3 million in North America. After dominating the category at the Golden Globes, Gotham Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and Film Independent Spirit Awards, it took home the Oscar for Best International Feature. Since The Social Network more than ten years prior, it was the first movie to win Best Picture at the National Society of Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the New York Film Critics Circle.

This September, Hellerstein left Sideshow. He held positions in marketing and public relations at Cinetic Media and acquisitions at Magnolia Pictures before Sideshow.