Pre-sales for Debt Financing: When Does It Fall Apart for Indie Films (2025-2026)?

Hey fellow filmmakers, Tanya Volkov here, DP on a few projects lately, mostly a mix of AMIRA and V-RAPTOR XL work with a few C300 Mark III gigs. I'm trying to produce a smaller narrative feature, aiming for a modest budget that still lets me shoot on something like a KOMODO-X with decent glass and maybe some M18s and PavoTube II 30Xs for lighting. The conventional wisdom is to secure pre-sales to de-risk debt financing. We've been shopping our script, a character-driven drama, but without any established 'names' attached yet, the interest in pre-sales is pretty lukewarm for 2025-2026 delivery. Distributors are all saying 'come back with talent.' It feels like a catch-22. Is this model effectively broken for independent projects without marquee cast in today's market? Are there specific red flags or scenarios where this 'textbook' approach truly fails, beyond just a tough market?