A Venice, Calif.-based startup hopes it can capitalize on some of life’s special occasions with a mobile greeting that could be used for anything from asking someone out on a date to lifting someone’s spirits to talking trash. Targeting the 12-17 age group, Mogreet is taking the service it started in 2006 to carrier decks at *AT&T*, Verizon , Sprint and Alltel.

Mogreets, which can be delivered by MMS or as an attachment in a text message for 99 cents, are video files compressed to 100 kilobits or less. Out of an existing library of 3,000 mobile video greetings, Mogreet has built up a catalog ranging from short original clips shot with celebrities to re-purposed clips from films old and new. Deals with major Hollywood studios such as Paramount have also enabled the company to develop an ad-supported outlet with free mobile video greetings pulled from films that are then used as a promotional tool for upcoming releases. In those cases, mogreets are free to the user with the advertiser picking up a fraction of each 99-cent charge depending on how many messages are sent. Celebrities, who are not paid up front but do get a share in revenues, typically come in to the company’s studio to shoot 30 to 50 mogreets in a session. So far the list includes Lance Bass, Sean Kingston and Tila Tequila. When Kingston came into the studio recently he ended up calling CEO James Citron the following morning asking if he could come back in to shoot a mogreet for an upcoming birthday bash he was planning. The company, backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Frontier, says 30 percent of its customers are repeats, but it hopes it can improve on that number with its new on-deck deals.