Pitching a Movie?

Thanks to all of you for your help and discussions here.

I run a small original animation studio. We're currently working on a few short proof-of-concept animations, as proof that we know what we're doing. These are privately funded by my own cash. We plan to finish these animations in about a year, at which point we'd like to start making a work at least 45 minutes long for eventual sale direct-to-video or possibly in theaters (a long shot, I know). We're not interested in going public or selling off ownership in the company.

I'm thinking of approaching distributors next year, and (using a combination of our test animations and promotional material for our "big work") pitching them on the idea of paying for our production costs. Is this completely unreasonable? Is there some other way of securing funding, other than giving an investor a good chunk of our company? I'd be happy to essentially take out a loan from someone, to be paid out of sales. Heck, I'd be happy to give them a good chunk of our profits, as long as we see a profit, too.

Alternatively worded: What are our options in terms of getting funding for a work that would conceivably be of direct-to-video or even theatre quality?

Thanks in advance.