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.

Don Randi recalls his days as a pianist with the legendary studio band The Wrecking Crew in his memoir, "You've Heard These Hands"; the documentary "Song of Lahore" tells the unlikely story of how a group of Pakistani musicians found worldwide acclaim; YouTube enters the streaming biz with an app.

The actor goes behind the camera to direct his first feature, "Shelter," starring his wife, Jennifer Connelly; Katie Theroux is the sole L.A. semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition; the Hollywood Reporter will still name the industry's 100 most powerful women, but they won't be ranked.

Director Patricia Riggen and cinematographer Checco Varese — her husband — were partners above and below ground on the mining disaster film, "The 33"; Boston Globe reporter Mike Rezendes is played by Mark Ruffalo in "Spotlight"; Song Exploder dissects a song by Dan Auerbach's side project, The Arcs.

One year out from the 2016 Presidential election, we hear from Beau Willimon, an executive producer of "House of Cards," and Jay Roach, director of an HBO film about Lyndon Johnson.

Ewan McGregor and filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia share stories of making their movie about Jesus wandering the desert; Leon Bridges' quick rise to soul stardom; Do box office results impact Oscar voting?

Michael Keaton leads the cast in "Spotlight," about the Boston archdiocese cover-up of sexual abuse cases; NBC and "Saturday Night Live" have resisted calls to remove Donald Trump as host of the show; Performance artist and composer Laurie Anderson examines love and loss in the documentary, "Heart of a Dog."

Director Catherine Hardwicke's new movie is written by and about women. As an advocate for women in Hollywood she practices what she preaches; Flailing TV shows remain on the air in this new era; Two Chicago institutions bring dance and sketch comedy together.

The actor says the experience of Dalton Trumbo and other blacklist victims still resonates today; Quentin Tarantino is facing a boycott of his films because of comments he made at a protest against police brutality; the German classic film, "M," was remade for American audiences but never released.

Disney is delaying publication of a companion book to "The Force Awakens" in hopes of keeping the story line under wraps; Jason Segel's performance as David Foster Wallace is another example of a cult figure on the big screen; Women wrote just 22 percent of the plays produced last year in the U.S.

The Irish actress plays a young immigrant in a story that mirrors what her own parents experienced; Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com assembled a list of women directors who Hollywood studios should be hiring; "Songs from Suicide Bridge" is another excavation project from Light In the Attic records.

The Walking Dead's Greg Nicotero's zombie lesson; LACMA brings rain to a drought-riddled city with The Rain Room; 'Saw' composer and former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Charlie Clouser on how to score a scary movie.

LA-based opera company “The Industry” has created an experimental opera that takes place in 24 cars around the city. Starz CEO Chris Albrecht wants his channel to reach a diverse audience. LA taco place partners with bands.