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.

Liz Feldman talks about her series that stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini and walks a fine line between comedy and tragedy.

The novelist and comic book creator co-wrote the novel with Terry Pratchett, but they couldn't get a production going before Pratchett's death in 2015. The current Amazon series fulfills their dream.

The actress stars as a harsh talk show host in the new movie written by Mindy Kaling.

Craig Mazin talks about his HBO miniseries that challenges our knowledge of the 1986 nuclear meltdown in Russia; record labels are in for a windfall, but how much will artists see?; "Godzilla" lives to romp and stomp again.

Her book is the basis for the Hulu series that stars Aidy Bryant as a young woman who defies being defined by her weight; a stringent abortion law in Louisiana could threaten TV and film production there; veteran pop music critic recounts Elton John's 1970 U.S. debut.

Randall Park and Ali Wong had been talking about making a romantic comedy for years and it's finally come to pass; with William Morris/Endeavor going public, the talent agency's finances are under scrutiny.

The former Texas Congressman's run for the U.S. Senate is documented in an HBO documentary that provides insight into his current presidential campaign; a recap of the Cannes Film Festival; "Echo in the Canyon" owes a lot to "California Dreamin'."

John Horn and Los Angeles Times film writer Jen Yamato are your guides to the Summer movie season. Guests include Kumail Nanjiani ("Stuber"), Olivia Wilde (director of "Booksmart") and Emma Thompson ("Late Night"). With the Elton John biopic coming up ("Rocketman"), we'll hear from the pop music critic who covered Elton's 1970 U.S. debut in L.A. And John reports from the trade floor at CinemaCon where vendors pitch the food and drinks they're trying to get into concession stands.

Why Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson made a 12-hour version of the final aria of Mozart's beloved "The Marriage of Figaro"; Harvey Weinstein and his former studio's board members reach a tentative $44 million settlement with the women who've accused him of sexual misconduct; and art writer Jori Finkel on what inspires artists.

The most lucrative season for studios and cineplexes is usually filled with action films and sequels, but scary movies are making big inroads; a new study indicates that LGTBQ representation in movies improved in 2018; the guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela in their element.

The actress went behind the camera for the teen girl comedy, which marks her directing debut; an Amazon TV series and a movie starring Kristen Wiig have canceled plans to shoot in Georgia because of the state's new abortion law; singer, songwriter and guitarist Steve Gunn.

The TV series co-creators, Sarah Schneider and Chris Kelly, talk about their offbeat family comedy; can the video app TikTok take over music streaming?; recreating 1969 in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."