John welcomes journalist/screenwriter Max Read to look at the emerging sub-genre “halogencore” – stories of corporate malfeasance that are less about uncovering corruption as they are about characters learning to ignore it. They look at the evolution of the sub-genre, how these movies function, and why it’s important to define genres at all.
We also explore the current state of independent journalism and freelance writing, and follow up on Hallmark movies and playwrights turned screenwriters.
The new Highland (including support for iOS) is now in beta — Sign up in the link below!
In our bonus segment for premium members, does it feel like time has sped up this summer? Like, even more than usual? John and Max slow it down and find the silver linings of an accelerated world.
Links:
* [Beta test the new Highland – sign up here!](https://mailchi.mp/quoteunquoteapps/highland-pro-beta)
* [Max Read’s newsletter READ MAX](https://maxread.substack.com/)
* [Shiva Baby](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11317142/) and [Good Luck to You, Leo Grande](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13352968/)
* [How many Hallmark Christmas movies are there?!](https://stephenfollows.com/how-many-hallmark-christmas-movies-are-there/) by Stephen Follows
* [The Read Max ‘Halogencore’ Guide](https://maxread.substack.com/p/the-read-max-halogencore-guide?r=3dw6x&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true)
* [Max Read’s Halogencore list](https://letterboxd.com/max_read/list/halogencore/) on Letterboxd
* [Where Are You Now?](https://saraschaefer.substack.com/p/where-are-you-now) by Sara Schaefer
* [Billy Strings – Dust in a Baggie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jStcHKMNvqI)
* [In Ascension](https://groveatlantic.com/book/in-ascension/) by Martin MacInnes
* [Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/scriptnotes-podcast)
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* Craig Mazin on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@clmazin) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/clmazin/)
* John August on [Threads](https://www.threads.net/@johnaugust), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/johnaugust/?hl=en), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.art/@johnaugust)
* [Outro](http://johnaugust.com/2013/scriptnotes-the-outros) by Tim Brown ([send us yours!](http://johnaugust.com/2014/outros-needed))
* Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by [Matthew Chilelli](https://twitter.com/machelli).
Email us at ask@johnaugust.com
You can download the episode [here](http://traffic.libsyn.com/scriptnotes/656standard.mp3).
**UPDATE 11-12-24:** The transcript for this episode can be found [here](https://johnaugust.com/2024/scriptnotes-episode-656-halogencore-transcript).