Justifying Vitrina AI or Sales Agent's Retainer on a Shoestring?

Hey everyone,

I'm a camera operator by trade, but I’ve been putting my own indie short together, a character-driven drama that I'm really proud of. We shot it guerrilla style, pulling favors left and right. Our budget was basically fumes and goodwill, and we’re now looking at distribution. This is where I'm hitting a wall.

I keep seeing recommendations for tools like Vitrina AI or getting a sales agent to help with festival strategy and sales. The problem is, these services come with a significant cost, often a retainer fee that feels huge when every penny is accounted for. I've been trying to do as much research as possible myself, scouring online databases and festival submission sites, but it's incredibly time-consuming and I know I'm missing opportunities.

For those of you who’ve operated on truly tight budgets, how did you ever justify or afford these kinds of data tools or agent fees? Did you find a way to make it pay off, or is it simply not an option for truly independent, underfunded projects? I want to give this film its best shot, but I can't imagine dropping thousands we don't have. Any insights from folks who've been there?