Barry Weiss

Barry Weiss is a visionary entrepreneur, small business owner, and entertainment executive with a distinguished $8.6 billion track record across the motion picture and animation industries. With deep expertise in physical production, visual effects, and corporate operations, he has successfully led creative teams and strategic initiatives at major studios such as Sony Pictures Imageworks and Turner Feature Animation. His career spans over 58 feature films and shorts, including Academy Award-winning and nominated projects such as "Surf’s Up," "Stuart Little," "Spiderman," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone," and "Superman Returns."

At Sony, Weiss served as senior vice president of Animation Production and Artist Development, where he oversaw the creation of characters and animation for a wide range of films, generating $150 million in annual revenue. Earlier in his career, at Turner and Hanna-Barbera, he built and managed the production infrastructure for the feature film division, co-producing the Annie Award-winning "Cats Don’t Dance" and later returning to produce "Yogi Bear." A creative business leader known for bridging the gap between art and science, Weiss draws on his Hollywood experience to inspire innovation, creativity, and strategic thinking for Fortune 250 companies, universities, and other organizations.

A recognized authority in the industry, Weiss is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Short Subject and Feature Animation Branch Executive Committee and a charter member of the Academy’s Science and Technology Council. As chairman of the Public Programs and Educational Sub-Committee, he leads initiatives discussing current and emerging trends in motion picture technology. Beyond his entertainment achievements, Weiss is a highly sought-after consultant, accomplished financial manager, and the author of a recently published university textbook on film production.

Weiss’s career began at Northwestern University, where he won a Chicago Area Emmy Award as a producer for CBS’s "The Magic Door." Today, he continues to share his expertise as a speaker and consultant, using behind-the-scenes stories from Hollywood to illustrate lessons in leadership, innovation, creativity, and corporate strategy across industries.