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.

Jill Soloway on the making of the "musicale finale" of "Transparent" — without actor Jeffrey Tambor; a group of up-and-coming film composers and indie directors convene at Skywalker Ranch for some intensive collaboration.

Jim Gaffigan is best known for his comedy, but can play a mean child kidnapper too; what the retirement of the head of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame could mean for overlooked artists; singer/songwriter Lupita Infante carries on her grandfather's legacy.

The LA-based contemporary dance company BodyTraffic debuts new works; what The Black Keys concert fiasco says about the live music industry; how the prolific musician Alex G transforms his voice.

Executive producers Susannah Grant and Sarah Timberman on their Netflix adaptation of a true story about the search for a serial rapist; concerns in Aurora, Colorado about the themes in "Joker"; the band Trashcan Sinatras.

The actress talks about playing the iconic singer and actress Judy Garland; Emmys were a big night for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, not so good for the broadcast networks; our resident "Downton Abbey" nerds revel in their big weekend.

Television is exploding and it’s time to celebrate! Join The Frame's John Horn and L.A. Times TV critic Lorraine Ali as they break down the year in television and this year's Emmy-worthy shows.

Documentary filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky turns the camera on her 11-year-son and his effort to learn Beethoven's composition; Hollywood struggles to strike the right note of climate urgency; how sound becomes a character in the film, "The Sound of Silence."

The writer/director of the hit film talks about the making of the movie, and life as a woman director in Hollywood; "Bandersnatch" is not your average TV movie.

In the animated series from the people behind “Bojack Horseman” (Raphael Bob-Waksburg and Kate Purdy), there’s no horse, but there’s still an existential crisis; the play Mike Pesca on SNL's on- again, off-again casting of Shane Gillis; "American Mariachi" is a soundtrack for Mexican-American life.

The director and co-writer of the space epic talks about his new film, which stars Brad Pitt as an astronaut on a perilous mission; NBC announces plans for its streaming service, which will be called Peacock; Rhiannon Giddens talks about her affinity for country music.

The singer and songwriter has a new album and a new movie score coming up, plus a documentary about his time with The Band; Variety film critic Peter Debruge wraps up the Toronto International Film Festival.

Nick Offerman goes on tour; NYT TV critic deconstructs Donald Trump's TV character; Gay of Thrones and The Handmaid's Tale costumer go for Creative Arts Emmys; La Santa Cecilia plays in El Paso and "This Close" is a TV show created by and starring deaf people.