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Whiteboard Challenge - Trailer

"Whiteboard Challenge" is a tech show pilot featuring the software engineering interview process in the form of a game talk show. The pilot episode delves into discrimination based on age, social introversion, and other factors along with educating non-technical viewers on how useful applications and games are built. The goal of the show is to enlighten and encourage change in society by humanizing the people behind today's modern technical wonders and giving a voice to those who have been silenced.

In contrast to all other tech related films and shows, the entire cast of "Whiteboard Challenge" consists of only software engineers, not actors. The show's creator, Michael Kureth, and two co-producers, Michael Garcia and Daniel Munoz, have over half a century combined experience in software engineering.

Empathetic to the Los Angeles homelessness crisis and a theme of the pilot, the world premiere on September 21, 2019 benefited the homeless with a free event, food, and drinks along with People Assisting The Homeless accepting volunteers and donations.

With 9 alternate endings and trillions of permutations, this project is not just a pilot episode for a new series. In late 2020, the "Whiteboard Challenge" will also exemplify Cinedapt's new film distribution business model showcasing the core features of the service for investors and industry professionals to expand upon its abilities in preventing film piracy and providing personalized films.

Cinedaptive® films use Cinedapt’s patent pending technology to adapt content for an emotional connection and response by learning a viewer's fears and sense of humor while incorporating Cinedapt’s patent pending technology to track and prevent film piracy.

  • Michael Kureth
    Director
  • Michael Kureth
    Writer
  • Michael Kureth
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Television, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    1 minute
  • Completion Date:
    September 14, 2019
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Michael Kureth

Michael is an award winning technology and entertainment industry professional with decades of experience in software engineering, film production, program management, technical architecture, and team management.

He is well experienced from developing and managing 250+ large scale projects with interactive digital experiences for high caliber technology companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Adobe along with top film studios not limited to Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios, Lionsgate, and Netflix.

With a multitude of diverse skills and credits, he was inspired in 2015 to create and patent Zennect®, a platform to allow others like him to showcase their many talents in one place while leveling up their skills and credits with experience points. In 2003, he became a voting member of the Grammy Awards for his ownership of an independent record label releasing the first enhanced compact disc promoting musicians, music videos, and poetry. From 2003 to 2015, he produced 7 independent feature length films expanding his financing and scheduling skills. In 2007, he built Cinepix to empower independent filmmakers and major studios to be compensated for their films in what he copyrighted as the world's first online movie theatre. In 2017, he created Cinedapt®, a patent-pending adaptive film service which uses artificial intelligence to tailor a film specific to the viewer based on sense of humor and fears while including anti-piracy tracking.

He has a profound ability to recognize talent and potential which stems from his past in self learning. Beginning at the age of 7, he reversed engineered games on a Commodore 64 using BASIC; eventually, he was developing games, audio, and animations by age 11.

Having this self-taught determination has given him empathy to relate with and inspire others. He is a proven hands on, empathetic, and strategic leader with natural management abilities and a reputation of growing loyal teams.

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Director Statement

Thank you for your time in watching the film. There are many goals I have for this film which can only be accomplished through exposure and recognition of the project, and I thank you for giving it a chance to be included in your festival.

"Whiteboard Challenge" initially began as a parody for the absurd interview practice where naturally introverted software engineers are asked to step out of their comfort zone by solving a code challenge they will never use on the job in front of a panel of hiring managers. This situation both dismisses strong candidates and is never experienced once hired. Through casting and writing the teleplay for the show, I aimed to offer solutions to better the industry and bring exposure to the discrimination I and others face when interviewing.

After meeting with more than ten formerly homeless and homeless software engineers, I identified a pattern which created the underlying theme for the show. All of these engineers were older and highly intelligent with forms of disabilities which resulted in hiring discrimination despite their ability to perform the job well. The excuse they were given for rejection by the companies is "culture fit" which is an antonym of the industry's diversity and inclusion hiring objective. I empathize with engineers who grew up with a computer as their only friend accomplishing many technical marvels just to now be living on the streets because of their age, race, or disability. As an example, a contestant on the show was hung up on during a phone interview after revealing his age when asked by a recruiter.

Each contestant on the show portrays a prevalent societal topic with women in tech, age discrimination, and homelessness. In casting judges for the show, I am showcasing both Latino and African American leadership in tech with highly experienced and seasoned engineering managers. The majority of time spent in casting was focused on women in tech as more than 50,000 female software engineers viewed targeted advertisements for casting and more than 250 were directly contacted. This focus was to portray female leadership and encourage more women to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

By submitting "Whiteboard Challenge" for consideration, I hope that the message behind the show can be seen by more people to influence change in society. Thank you for your time.