Fledgling New York-based distributor 1-2 Special has made two announcements heading into Cannes, appointing Amanda Trokan as SVP of acquisitions
Fledgling New York-based distributor 1-2 Special has made two announcements heading into Cannes, appointing Amanda Trokan as SVP of acquisitions and Nico Chapin as VP of publicity.
Former Sideshow executive Jason Hellerstein launched the company in February to champion international and US festival films and recently pick up its first feature, Radu Jude’s Berlinale dim comedy Kontinental ’25. The team will be attending Cannes as they look to strategically expand the current slate.
With nearly two decades of experience, Trokan joins 1-2 Special after leading the North American programming team at Mubi. While overseeing platform curation and licensing, Trokan negotiated deals on films from Hirokazu Kore-eda, Quentin Dupieux, Rebecca Zlotowski, Tyler Taormina, and Alonso Ruizpalacios, among others.
Prior to that she served at HBO, spending eight years as an acquisitions executive and working on HBO’s original programming team. Trokan began her career in production and development, and has worked at Film at Lincoln Center.
Chapin most recently helped launch the rebooted Metrograph Pictures, overseeing the rollout of India Donaldson’s Good One. Prior to that he held roles at Mubi and Cinetic Media, where he contributed to campaigns for Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar-winning Another Round, Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, and Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, while also supporting Criterion Collection and Janus Films.
During his time at Mubi, he led the US release and awards campaigns for titles like Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave, Ira Sachs’ Passages, and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves.
COMMENTS