An interdisciplinary team made up of a marketing major, a cinema and television arts (CTVA) major and a computer science major took home the $10,000 top prize at the 2026 Jeff Marine Bull Ring New Venture Competition final event on April 23 in the University Student Union. Their invention: a streaming platform designed to help independent filmmakers do their own marketing and distribution and earn a profit from their films. The trio also took home the Audience Choice Award, with its $1,000 prize.
Numerous audience members shrieked with excitement when the creators of the platform, “Grain,” were announced as the winners.
Carl Fassberg (Marketing) led the team’s pitch to the event’s judges, accompanied on stage by Skyler Gommeren (CTVA) and Stefan Juganu (Computer Science). Fassberg explained that the streaming platform would make money through subscriptions, offering viewers access to independent films. Filmmakers would receive cash rewards for bringing in subscribers — which can be tracked through the platform, he said.
“We want to leverage the existing audiences of these filmmakers. We want to incentivize them to bring their people onto our platform,” Fassberg said.
He noted that the entrepreneurial spirit of independent filmmakers is a draw for younger movie viewers — and a way to grow audiences, which will help smaller films make money.
“The future is independent,” Fassberg told the judges. “Gen Z does not just want to watch movies, they want to be part of a community.”
The Bull Ring is CSUN’s version of the popular show “Shark Tank” and hosted by the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics Center for Social and Technology Entrepreneurship. The final pitch is a popular event on campus and includes an audience-participation element, where attendees can decide the winner of the Audience Choice Award.
The event always has welcomed aspiring entrepreneurs from across the university, said Chandra Subramaniam, dean of the Nazarian College. Participants have embraced that — and expanded on it, he said.
“Four of [CSUN’s] eight colleges were involved in the final … but [also], teams not only had CSUN students, they had team members from across the country, from Indiana, from USC, from UC Berkeley, from Arizona State,” Subramaniam said. “That showed that they have made connections on their entrepreneurial ideas with other schools.”
Second place ($5,000) went to the team behind Vylist, a secondhand clothing marketplace that provides resellers with a fast way to list their inventory, at scale, by running an inventory walk-through video through AI to gather information such as sizes and descriptions. Third place ($2,000) was awarded to listabid, a property-tech startup where sellers can post their properties and realtors compete for the listings, allowing sellers to select the best agent for their needs.
The Social Impact Award ($1,000) went to the team behind VoucherReady, which helps Section 8 housing voucher holders successfully lease apartments by organizing documentation, coordinating inspections and supporting landlords.
The Best Use of Technology Award ($1,000) was awarded to two computer information technology majors for their invention, PolicyProof AI, which helps cancer patients overturn wrongful insurance denials using the evidence provided by the insurance companies.
Bull Ring prizes are funded by alumnus Jeff Marine and his family. The top three teams are also offered $2,500 of free legal services from NovusGC and $2,500 of free marketing services from IntersectLA.
During the two-hour event, each of the five finalist teams had seven minutes to make their business and product presentations to the panel of four judges — who, in turn, had five minutes to ask questions of each presenter. The distinguished judges for this year’s final included Christina Ketsoyan, vice president and district manager, US Bank; Frank Leon, multi-concept restaurateur; Harvey Bookstein ’70 (Business Administration), Hon.D. ’16, partner, Armanino LLP; and Brian Diamond, founder and CEO, Diamond Landscaping. CSUN alumnus Paul Jennings ’85 (Marketing), Hon.D. ’22, principal and CEO of PCS Energy, gave the keynote address.
This is the 11th year for the Jeff Marine Bull Ring New Venture Competition, which provides an entire program for students — from any academic department — in developing their business ideas. In the weeks leading up to the final, teams are encouraged to take part in training that includes pitch coaching, one-on-one mentoring and workshops.
This year, Nazarian College’s Center for Social and Technology Entrepreneurship is hosting the Sunstone CSU Startup Launch Competition, May 8 in the University Student Union. The event features student and recent graduate entrepreneur teams from more than a dozen CSU campuses, who will compete for $200,000 in funding for their projects.
