The Frame

A powerful documentary about the aftermath of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; Rihanna's new album had a surprise (or maybe not?) release this week; the L.A. Art Fair aims to be the nexus for art from the Pacific Rim.

Nate Parker spent seven years making "The Birth of a Nation," and his efforts paid off as the breakout hit at the Sundance Film Festival; prominent comedians take to the stage to benefit Bernie Sanders' campaign; Larry Klein's work with Joni Mitchell made him a go-to producer for a wide variety of singers.

The legendary R&B singer has a new album and an HBO documentary coming up, but don't expect this to be her swan song; a film about Nat Turner's slave rebellion has set a sales record at the Sundance Film Festival; actresses Alysia Reiner and Sarah Megan Thomas launched Broad Street to counter gender inequity in Hollywood.

With the top award from the Producers Guild, "The Big Short" is now frontrunner for the best picture Oscar. We chat with producers Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner; a Motion Picture Academy officer admits that the organization has been too slow to change; the band Foals has gone from playing house parties to arenas.

Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale has re-imagined an album from his long solo career, "Music For a New Society"; as the "X-Files" returns, we get the story behind its iconic theme music; even at the Sundance Film Festival, the talk of the town is #OscarsSoWhite.

Actor Matthew Spencer, who plays the lead in a new adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel, says the story has new resonance today; TV networks are casting doubt about the popularity of original programming on streaming services; Andrew Ahn passed up med school for a film career, and now his directing debut is at Sundance.

Carrie Brownstein, "Portlandia" co-creator and Sleater-Kinney co-founder, pulls back the curtain on her creative process; members of the U.K. punk band Savages reveal how they remain unpredictable on stage and in the recording studio; what's in store at this year's Sundance Film Festival?

In the two years since Lupita Nyong'o won an Oscar for "12 Years a Slave," no actor of color has been nominated for an Academy Award. Academy member Stephanie Allain says the Oscars reflect bigger problems in the industry; James Lecesne continues his advocacy for LGBTQ youth with "The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey."

Alicia Vikander's breakout year now includes an Oscar nomination for "The Danish Girl"; singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett deconstructs her song, "Depreston"; and we find out which new TV shows are on the must-watch list for the new year.

John Horn and Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com dig into the snubs and surprises in the Oscar nominations, and the return of #OscarsSoWhite. And we hear from the directors nominated for "Room" and "The Revenant."

The film festival high in the Rocky Mountains has an amazing track record of debuting movies that end up as Academy Award nominees and winners; singer Snoh Aalegra is an unlikely R&B artist, having grown up in Sweden as the daughter of Iranian immigrants; finding the spirit at Ambient Church.

The actor's Emmy-nominated role in "When They See Us" and his latest solo stage show, “Latin History for Morons,” have important messages about Latino history; even Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" can't convince movie theater owners to soften their stance on Netflix releases.

The actor already has Academy Awards for "Moonlight" and "Green Book," and now he has an Emmy nomination for "True Detective"; China is a huge and growing market for music streaming, but its biggest platform is under scrutiny by the government there.

A new report by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative shows an absence of Latino actors and directors; director Gavin Hood on his new film, "Official Secrets"; the summer box office report card for the studios.

We visit with Ava DuVernay at her company Array where she's disrupting the old Hollywood system; NYT culture critic Wesley Morris; 'Jawline' documentarian; filmmaker Issa López and more...

The former publicist is creating her own empire as a director, producer and distributor, housed in a rehabbed compound on the edge of downtown L.A.; the future of the Spider-Man film franchise.

The documentary by Liza Mandelup follows a 16-year-old on his journey to become a successful live-streamer; how TikTok became a powerful platform for music and pop culture; filmmaker Sacha Gervasi and actor Peter Dinklage on their Emmy-nominated movie, "My Dinner With Hervé."

The first release from their Higher Ground production company is a documentary by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar about the cultural struggles that surfaced in the takeover of a gutted GM factory in Ohio; the outsized influence of Colombian artists in the Latin music scene.

The filmmaker's latest is dark fairytale about a group of orphans, living on the streets amidst drug-related violence in their Mexican town; 'Chernobyl' has some present-day resonance; The Rolling Stones 1964 U.S. debut in San Bernardino.

Sian Clifford, who plays the sister of series star and creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, talks about their off-screen friendship; we also hear from Waller-Bridge's real-life sister, Isobel, who writes the music for the show; Variety senior film writer Matt Donnelly on the Fall movie season.

Richard Linklater on Texas pride and getting political. Taylor McFerrin sings on his new album. Bruce Springsteen love on the big screen in "Blinded By The Light." "Luce" Filmmaker confronts assumptions around race and privilege. We remember Peter Fonda.

The actor had directed several movies and TV projects, but never anything as grim as the Showtime series, and it paid off with an Emmy nomination for him; Latinos in the entertainment industry speak out on recent events.