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Sometimes movies can say things better than we can, and that’s what the creators of Ditto Greetings are banking on.
The new online greeting card company allows users to send digital cards featuring clips from movies along with personalized messages.
Wedding toast advice from Bridesmaids? Covered. A celebration of male friendship courtesy of Ted? That’s there too — along with breakup sympathy cards via Bridget Jones’s Diary and get well wishes from Knocked Up.
The cards are free to send and come with pithy text, though the messages are customizable. Users can send cards via email, Facebook and text message.
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Its founders say their friends talk in movie quotes, so the idea made sense.
“We wondered if we could get the best scenes in the best movies of all time and edit those — not just for birthdays, but for everyday life,” Ditto CEO David Belasco tells The Hollywood Reporter.
He and his team have licensing deals with several studios that allow them to use clips from their catalog. They knew they were onto a good idea when they nearly “brought the entire boardroom of men to tears with a scene from Field of Dreams,” Belasco adds.
For now, the site doesn’t feature advertising, but Ditto plans on rolling that out in the future. They also have their sights set on offering pay subscriptions that would allow users to get extra features, such as receiving a free movie on their birthdays.
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Belasco says studios have incentive to work with the company, because it allows them to monetize older films in their libraries and could potentially drive DVD and Blu-ray sales. (Each Ditto card has a link to purchase the movie.) Ditto also plan on partnering with studios to promote upcoming films by sending Dittos with clips from new theatrical releases.
In addition to Belasco, the Ditto team includes COO David DiGuardi, the former video director for Sony Entertainment Network; CTO Craig Winter, former senior programmer the MPAA; and advisor Adam Cheyer, co-founder and architect of Siri.
So what won’t you see on Ditto? The team is steering clear of any clips that could potentially be used in a bad way. So guns and violence are out, because Ditto wouldn’t want the cards to be used for threats. You also won’t find something like Schindler’s List, because as Belasco says, “Only something bad can happen if someone uses a clip from Schindler’s List in the wrong way.”
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