The Frame

Author, religion scholar and TV consultant Reza Aslan adds talk show host to his credits with "Rough Draft"; Oscar nominee Lon Burden breaks down the sound design for a crucial scene in "The Revenant"; the toughest Oscars trivia contest happens at a pub in Santa Monica.

The Black Version is a group of improv performers who put an Afro-centric spin on mainstream movies; Leonardo DiCaprio sees environmental parallels between the 1820s when "The Revenant" is set and modern-day America; eligibility rules for the Oscars raise questions for the original score nominees.

Will this year’s Academy Awards be the tipping point for racial representation in Hollywood? Marc Bernardin of The Hollywood Reporter weighs in; The Song Exploder podcast takes apart a song with the band Clipping; "Inside Out" writer Meg LeFauve gets a Pixar education and now takes on Ms. Marvel.

USC's Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg tracked the representation of women, people of color, and the LGBT community in film and television and found Hollywood is still "a straight, white boys club." Then co-star and co-creator of the HBO show 'Togetherness', Steve Zissis, mines his life-- failures and all-- for the show. And comedian Kamau Bell is excited to see Chris Rock turn #OscarsSoWhite into comic gold at the Academy Awards.

Comedian Paul Rust went from Iowa to working with his childhood heroes Judd Apatow and Paul Rubens, and now he's landed the Netflix series "Love," which comes out today. The Coen Brothers bring water ballet back to the big screen in "Hail, Caesar!" with the L.A. aquatic dance troupe Aqualillies. Also, we deconstruct the Oscar race for Best Picture with John Horn and Kyle Buchanan from The Awards Show Show.

Writer-director Robert Eggers' impressive feature debut is about witches in colonial New England; after camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed on a film set, her parents became advocates for production safety; the play 'Placas' tells the story of a man who escapes one of the world's most brutal gangs.

David Javerbaum created @TheTweetOfGod, which led to the hit Broadway play, "An Act of God," currently starring Sean Hayes; faced with low ratings, ABC fires network chief Paul Lee; singer-songwriter M. Ward revisits his early years in the Conejo Valley on his new album.

The producer of the Record of the Year Grammy talks about what went into making the dance hit, "Uptown Funk"; France's Academy Awards entry for Foreign Language Film was actually shot in Turkey by a Turkish-born filmmaker; Edward Gero played Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in a show at Arena Stage.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Alejandro G. Iñárritu of "The Revenant" are among the filmmakers and actors on The Frame's annual Academy Awards preview. You'll also hear from Sylvester Stallone, Brie Larson, Bryan Cranston and many others.

Sylvester Stallone turned down the part of an ailing Rocky Balboa in "Creed" twice before agreeing to do it-- with the help of an acting coach. Now he's nominated for an Oscar. Grammy nominated musician Lianne La Havas finds inspiration in Jamaica. How only Kanye West could pack Madison Square Garden while playing an album off his laptop.

Fifteen young musicians from L.A. are collaborating with counterparts from the Japanese region struck by disaster four years ago (pictured); Burger Records has built a mini-indie empire in Southern California; Alex Gibney's documentary about the Church of Scientology debuts on HBO.

The Youth Orchestra is in Japan to conduct some teenage musical diplomacy (pictured); "Marilyn Forever" gives the Hollywood icon the opera treatment; Chapman University's film program decides to compete at the multiplex; Rihanna’s singing career just collided with her film career — and not in a good way.

Considering the success of TV shows such as "Fresh Off the Boat" (pictured), two casting directors discuss whether the demand for diversity has turned into a new form of affirmative action; filmmaker Noah Baumbach joins us for a discussion about his new film, "While We're Young."

Last year, for the first time, the record industry made more money from streaming services than from the sale of CDs; British singer/songwriter Laura Marling (pictured) talks about her love-hate relationship with L.A.; “Justified” creator Graham Yost on how the show maintained its spirit after the death of co-creator, Elmore Leonard.

NPR music critic Ann Powers provides a rundown of standout acts, including Leon Bridges (pictured), at SxSW; Twin Shadow goes from indie rock to pop music on his latest album, “Eclipse"; Lacey Schwartz talks about uncovering her secret racial identity in her documentary, "Little White Lie."

This weekend GLAAD honors entertainment and media that best represent LGBT characters. But handing out awards isn’t the group's only job in Hollywood; Why the Iranian band Kiosk had to flee their country to fully realize their art; Suge Knight's bail is set to $25 million, and his lawyers accuse the prosecution of equating Knight with "Empire."

James Corden reveals his hopes and fears as host of the revamped "Late Late Show." Actor Ethan Hawke and pianist Seymour Bernstein talk stage fright and their new documentary. Mr. T gets a reality show gig.

ASCAP president and board chairman Paul Williams (pictured) advocates better pay for songwriters; The Emmys define TV comedies by length; Hammer Museum celebrates the work of artist Charles Atlas.

Apple plans to offer an online package of 25 TV channels including ABC, CBS and FOX, perhaps as soon as this fall; singer/songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. turned his misfortune into a music career that's blowing up.

Violinist Bing Wang (pictured) is one of the 120-plus L.A. Philharmonic musicians on a two-week tour of Asia; HBO's "The Jinx" is just the latest documentary to play a key role in a criminal case; hanging out with the dudes at the 14th annual celebration of "The Big Lebowski."

How is SxSW in Austin different from all other film festivals?; artist Charles Gaines (pictured) reflects on being black in the art world and gets a retrospective of his very own at the Hammer Museum.

The L.A. Philharmonic is set to leave on a tour of Asia, where it will make its first visit to mainland China and conductor Gustavo Dudamel will work with a youth orchestra born out of the Fukushima disaster in Japan; We take an audio tour of the Bjork exhibit at MOMA that's generating so much snark