MEET THE INDUCTEES

Edie Weiss

Edie Weiss

Edie is the President of the Radke Group of Companies, with its core focus as one of the leading advertising production companies in Canada. Under Edie’s management, Radke Film Group has garnered many international awards and has grown into one of the most successful commercial production companies in North America. Radke was selected as one of the top 10 Production companies in North America. Edie has also received the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award. 

Edie had an unexpected entrance into the film business. A graduate of the Masters of Social Work Program (MSW) at the University of Toronto, she worked as a marriage and family therapist for many years. 

A career shift was prompted by an invitation from up-and-coming commercial photographer, Shin Sugino, to represent his work to ad agencies. After making Shin one of the most successful photographers in Canada, she was recruited into the commercial film production industry by Rawi Sherman.

In 1992, Edie was approached by successful commercial film director, Richard Radke, to join together to start a new, small boutique production company which they named Radke Films. In 1994, Richard Radke tragically died following a sudden accident and Edie took over running the company.

Faced with the daunting challenge of managing Radke Films on her own, Edie surrounded herself with a community of highly competent colleagues and friends to guide her through the early development of the company. This was the beginning of Edie’s recognition of the importance of developing a leadership model based on vibrant team work and respectful collaboration, which became the hallmark of a successful and competitive production company.

Along with Scott MacKenzie, an expert Executive Producer, and Ilene Bronsteter, a skilled CFO, Edie created a core team for production, sales and finance. Radke Films expanded into an umbrella organization, developing and incorporating a number of synergistic, independent, production companies, including Vapor Music, Steam, OPC, Common Good, Soft Citizen, Free Society, Undefined Content, and Film Group Vancouver. 

With the success of the Radke Film Group, Edie became increasingly aware of the lack of opportunity for economically disadvantaged and BIPOC young adults to enter the film production industry. From this awareness, Edie began a non-for-profit organization called POV in 2007 to create training and employment opportunities for these young people. The goal of POV was to raise awareness of the needs of this group and then champion diversity and inclusion in the production industry by increasing access to skills training, job mentorship, professional development and career placement. 

POV grew into a fully operational non-for-profit organization under the leadership of an excellent, diverse and talented board of directors. With a clear vision and measurable goals, POV remains committed to impacting the lives of diverse, creative young people while ensuring that the production industry is able to benefit from their stories and talent. Hundreds of students have gone through the POV program and many are thriving in jobs within this competitive industry.  Edie’s business acumen combined with her social work background has created novel opportunities for youth that not only benefit individuals and the community – but also the film industry as a whole. 

While empathy, collaboration, partnership and empowerment are Edie’s raison d’être, Edie says simply: “Doing good is good business”.

ALL INDUCTEE PROFILES

Lisa Lisson
Lisa Lisson
2023 INDUCTEE
Chris Staples, Ian Grais & Tom Shepansky
Chris Staples, Ian Grais & Tom Shepansky
2023 INDUCTEE
Sandra Sanderson
Sandra Sanderson
2023 INDUCTEE
Noel O’Dea
Noel O'Dea
2023 INDUCTEE
Zak Mroueh
Zak Mroueh
2022 INDUCTEE
Edie Weiss
Edie Weiss
2022 INDUCTEE
Dani Reiss
Dani Reiss
2022 INDUCTEE
Chris Lang
Chris Lang
2022 INDUCTEE
Pritchard Brenda
Brenda Pritchard
2022 INDUCTEE
DR. ALAN MIDDLETON
DR. ALAN MIDDLETON
2005 INDUCTEE
PAUL ALOFS
PAUL ALOFS
2005 INDUCTEE
JUDY ELDER
JUDY ELDER
2005 INDUCTEE
STEPHEN GUNN
STEPHEN GUNN
2005 INDUCTEE
CHRISTINE MAGEE
CHRISTINE MAGEE
2005 INDUCTEE
PAUL LAVOIE
PAUL LAVOIE
2005 INDUCTEE
FRANK PALMER
FRANK PALMER
2005 INDUCTEE