Inside Move: Booting up, at a theater near you
High-tech cards spin pics, TV
Instead of bubble gum, Serious USA's "CD Cardz" come with screensavers and hyperlinks on a CD-ROM the size of a credit card. And rather than ball players, the cards feature film and TV characters.
Brit company Serious Global Holding debuted its Serious USA arm this past summer with cards for "Final Fantasy" and has brokered worldwide licensing deals for "The Lord of the Rings" pic, TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Saturday morning kidvid hit "Medabots."
"People are looking for new collectibles that reflect the new place technology has in their lives," says prexy David-Joseph Brown. "CD Cardz are the natural next step in fan merchandise."
Cards are Mac- and PC-compatible and available at online fan sites as well as retailers like CompUSA and BJ's Wholesale Club. Sold in packs of four, the cards retail for $19.95.
To date, more than 3 million have been sold worldwide, including 300,000 pegged to Fox's "Titan A.E, " which the studio used to promote the pic's homevid release.
Under a new marketing partnership with AOL, Serious cards -- for which the company has an international patent pending -- also come loaded with AOL software so collectors can be turned into subscribers. Serious earns a royalty on those it brings in.
