Robert K. Weiss
Mr. Weiss is Vice Chairman and President of the X PRIZE Foundation. The X PRIZE Foundation’s mission is to foster innovation through incentivized competition. The Foundation has active competitions in Genomics and Lunar Exploration, and is now developing X PRIZEs in Healthcare, Energy, and Exploration.
Weiss is a veteran Hollywood television and film producer having produced over 20 feature films and TV series during the past 25 years. He began his career in the late 1970’s producing the feature film, KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE and later produced the ABC television program POLICE SQUAD! as well as the three NAKED GUN movies starring Leslie Nielsen.
Weiss produced the international hit, THE BLUES BROTHERS for Universal Studios. His other feature films produced for Universal include AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON and DRAGNET. Weiss was the Executive Producer for the television series WEIRD SCIENCE and SLIDERS (that he co-created).
As president of Broadway Pictures at Paramount, Weiss joined forces with Saturday Night Live Executive Producer Lorne Michaels. Weiss executive produced many films at Paramount including TOMMY BOY, A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY, SUPERSTAR, and THE LADIES MAN. He went on to produce the hit movies, SCARY MOVIE 3 & 4.
Weiss served on the Board of Directors of IS Robotics (now called iRobot in Cambridge, Massachusetts) from 1990 to 1994.
Under the banner of Earthlight (a multimedia production company), Weiss has produced award-winning productions for the X PRIZE Foundation, The Boeing Company, the Zero Gravity Corporation and Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer.
Mr. Weiss has been the Vice Chairman and Executive Producer for the X PRIZE Foundation since 1996. In the fall of 2004, he produced the award-winning live telecast & webcast of the Ansari X PRIZE space flights. Weiss has been the President of the X PRIZE Foundation since July 2008.
