Hollywood Meets Business: Students Network with Entertainment Leaders

Nazarian College brought a touch of Hollywood to the CSUN campus with a special Stone Soup Social event featuring Rotten Tomatoes Co-founder Patrick Lee.

The program featured a fireside chat with Lee and gave students the opportunity to interact in small groups with leading figures from the entertainment industry.

Before the fireside chat, students engaged directly with guests, including DC Comics artist Bernard Chang, actresses Catherine Haena Kim and Michelle Lee, and filmmaker Joshua Joel Ortiz, at individual tables. 

During the fireside chat moderated by CSUN alum and Stone Soup Social founder Bill Imada, Lee shared how he and two friends built Rotten Tomatoes into a widely used source for movie and television reviews and the lessons he carried into later ventures. He also discussed the expanding creator economy and how digital platforms are reshaping opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Hosting high-profile individuals and creating networking opportunities helps Nazarian College bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world experience

“The event brought together an incredible lineup of industry leaders to engage with our students and faculty,” says Nazarian College Marketing Chair and Professor Deb Heisley. “It’s always exciting to see our students engaging directly with innovators and professionals who are shaping the future of business, entertainment and technology.”