Acclaimed moviemaker Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club, Smoke) is utilizing an innovative new distribution strategy for his latest film, The Princess of Nebraska. The film made its world premiere on YouTube on Friday, October 17th as part of the recently launched YouTube Screening Room, a channel dedicated to premium film content. The free release is part of a larger distribution plan that launched with the theatrical release of Wang’s companion film, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, which arrived in theaters September 19th. The film was distributed by Magnolia Pictures, which worked with Cinetic Rights Management and YouTube to plan the parallel distribution strategy.
Magnolia Pictures’ Ray Price states, “The Internet’s ability to provide free streaming video is going to radically redefine independent film’s access and availability to its audience.” Matt Dentler of Cinetic Rights Management adds, “For years, filmmakers have asked me when a veteran icon would release a new work for free, online. That time is now, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this exciting distribution strategy.”
Both The Princess of Nebraska and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers are adapted from a collection of short stories by Granta prize-winning author Yiyun Li. In The Princess of Nebraska, a foreign exchange student (Ling Li) finds herself pregnant and must travel from Nebraska to San Francisco to get an abortion. The film continues Wang’s exploration of the bonds of family and Chinese identity in the modern world.
Wang says, “The Princess of Nebraska is about a young woman from China who tries to locate her identity through different kinds of media. The piece was shot with this kind of mentality with various kinds of easily accessible digital sources. I am very excited that the distribution will be consistent with the way the piece was conceived and produced!”
Watch The Princess of Nebraska now:
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