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."

With her new film, "Disobedience," Rachel Weisz found something she had been seeking but couldn't find: a story with two female leads; former comedian and TV host Byron Allen has quietly built a company with interests in both film and television.

Movie theater owners look beyond popcorn to find new concessions at CinemaCon; Chicano photographer George Rodriguez captures two very different L.A.'s over a 50-year period; CalArts celebrates world music with its own salsa band.

Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller, producers of the hit horror movie, "A Quiet Place," talk about the film's surprising box office success; movie studios at CinemaCon tout sequels, more sequels, and a Tarantino movie; meet poet and singer-songwriter Jamila Woods.

Married comedians Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher turned their honeymoon into a comedy tour a three-part series for Netflix; Harry Potter mania arrives on Broadway with the opening of the two-part play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

Former "Daily Show" correspondent Wyatt Cenac has a new, weekly HBO show that examines pressing social issues; movie theater owners are trying to fight the popularity of streaming services; Hasan Minhaj's "Homecoming King" wins a Peabody Award.

Prince died two years ago without leaving behind a will and now his estate is in disarray. Washington Post reporter Karen Heller fills us in on where things stand with Prince’s estate; In the podcast “Dear Franklin Jones,” producer Jonathan Hirsch revisits his childhood and how it was dominated by his parents’ guru; A play by Tim Robbins' Actors’ Gang forces audience members to ask themselves if America is still a welcome place for immigrants.

With Earth Day approaching, "FernGully" director Bill Kroyer and KPCC environment reporter Emily Guerin talk about the 1992 film's impact; Barry Avrich made a second documentary about Harvey Weinstein after a struggle with the mogul thwarted his first.

How director Joshua Marston and screenwriter Marcus Hinchey made "Come Sunday"– a movie about a Pentecostal bishop's spiritual epiphany first documented by This American Life; could MoviePass be the next film industry disruptor?; Moses Sumney dissects his song, "Quarrel."

Queen Bey's performance at Coachella set a new standard; The HBO documentary "I Am Evidence" examines the backlog of untested rape kits around the country; Kendrick Lamar is the first winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music who is not a classical or jazz artist.

Zhao takes stories and events from her untrained actors’ real lives and writes them into a fictionalized script; Hari Kondabolu’s documentary, “The Problem with Apu,” gets a response from "The Simpsons"; “Will & Grace” and “Roseanne” are hits again, but how strong is the appetite for reunion shows?

"Still Dreaming" follows a group of retired actors who mount a Shakespeare play; Netflix pulls its movies from the Cannes Film Festival in a disagreement over screening policy; composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla returns to the concert stage.

Al Madrigal, who got his break from Mitzi Shore at The Comedy Store, pays tribute to the late patron; actor Michael K. Williams digs into the juvenile justice system; Canadian singer & songwriter Lindi Ortega on her new album, "Liberty."