Well firstly, they don’t want another Fighting is Magic scenario happening. People who ask if we’re gonna put the movie on DVD or Blu-Ray have been denied this so many times because that’s already a red flag. That’s pretty much illegally distributing a copyrighted work.
The same thing goes for Film Festivals or events outside of fan-community run events like Conventions and stuff like that. We’re specifically a non-profit group that can only release the film online or at conventions pertaining to the fandom. But I have plans to show the film to close family members and non-MLP fans alike despite the limitations.
But initially, they just don’t want an over PG rated film with a lot of dark subtext and violence. We try to keep the rating PG at best because of the scary sequences and dark context of the story.