Cleveland O’Neal III

Cleveland O’Neal III, an alumnus of Cal State Fullerton’s CSUF Startup Incubator and president and CEO of Connection III Entertainment Corporation, has acquired Moviefone, a film listings service once valued at more than $400 million and most recently owned by the parent company of MoviePass.

“My CSUF Startup Incubator exploration has come full circle,” O’Neal told the leadership of Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Entrepreneurship, which operates the incubator.

O’Neal’s company, Born in Cleveland, was the winning bidder for Moviefone during a bankruptcy auction, in which the brand was sold for $1.075 million.

Initially a call-in service established in 1989, the Moviefone platform expanded to a website with information and movie trailers for new theatrical and home-video titles.

The plan now is for Moviefone to buttress the “Made in Hollywood” TV brand, which includes a show with celebrity interviews and coverage of new film offerings that are syndicated on CBS and FOX stations nationwide.

For more on the Moviefone deal and the brand’s future, see the article in CSUF Entrepreneurship, the official blog of Mihaylo College’s Center for Entrepreneurship, or this article in the Los Angeles Times.