Ready to render... What are my options?

Hey guys,

I'm ready to render my 3d short film..
I'm currently using 3ds max 2011 x64 with Brazil 2 renderer.

I have rendered some scenes already.. But it's taking FOREVER..
Long story short I've been researching render farms and dynamic cloud servers to potentially render out my scene...

I was quick to discover rendering doesn't come cheap... Especially for an indie like me... Not only that, but I've also discovered Brazil 2 isn't that popular amongst the rendering farm scene...(please correct me if i'm wrong)

Does anyone know of any CHEAP, maybe even free rendering services? (A guy can dream)

If not, are there any alternatives..? Keep in mind, I'd wish to keep my IP safe..

Ideally, I'd love to speed up my rendering to also allow myself to fix unforeseen issues... Some sort of dynamic cloud server/rendering environment with windows installed... allowing me to raise the processing on the fly.. and just overall more private, intuitive and hands on..

I'd love to hear ANY suggestions you may have.
Well appreciated!
Cheers!