INDIE FILM DISTRIBUTION - BIFS film festival

Film festivals are the best way for Indie films to get a theatrical screening. Therefore, most of the time Indie producers are ready to gamble and spend a lot of money on posters, trailers, websites etc.

Why is it hard for an Indie film to find a distributor?

One of the main reason is that Indie film does not feature any stars which are well known to the American audience. However, Ghost Story is the only Indie film that features Martin Freeman who is a well-known actor to the US audience. Second, is the genre. Indie movies are more social realist films which aren't very appealing to the audience. It's also not common to find CGI or special effects. That makes the movies a bit boring and a lot of the shots are handheld so therefore you would find a lot of shaky shots (low budget). Working Title also has IPs (Intellectual Property) which are movies based on a book. To own such an IP it costs a lot of money to buy the rights. Indie does own IP but they aren't as famous e.g. Submarine, it is based on a book but not a famous one. These are some of the main issues Indie companies have to face to get screenings. 

It is possible for low budget companies to self-distribute their movies through their own website ( uploading on Vimeo, YouTube, Amazon or Netflix )  or paying distribution companies. Some are also distributed through small cinema chains where they screen the movie and after the screening, you would have a guest speaker ( actor or director ) to do some Q + A.