Investor's portfolio gets fine tooning.

• Author: Richter, Chris
• Position: Chris Smith of Allegiance Corp invests in Educational Adventures's Danger Rangers

Real estate is Chris Smith's area of expertise. He's president of Charlotte-based Allegiance Realty Corp., which owns about 2.1 million square feet of office space and 1,700 hotel rooms around the U.S.

So what got him to collect about $5 million from investors and sink $1 million of his own money into a local company that produces an educational cartoon? "I brought the videos home to my three boys, and they loved it."

Danger Rangers, produced by Charlotte-based Educational Adventures, follows animal super-heroes that teach playground, fire and other safety lessons. It airs on public TV and also is sold on DVD.

If you can judge an investment by the cachet of those involved, Danger Rangers is a sure bet. Educational Adventures' president is Steven Rockefeller--yes, those Rockefellers. Among the show's producers is Howard Kazanjian, who produced Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back. Advisers include Glen Charles, co-creator of the TV series Cheers.

But this is a new kind of investment for Smith, who got interested in real estate during his high-school days in Pittsfield, Mass. His father, who was in sales at General Electric, owned some small residential rental properties. Smith earned a bachelor's in finance from Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., in 1990 and an MBA there in 1992.

In 1994, he and his wife moved to Albuquerque, N.M., where he worked as a tax consultant and...