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."

From The Frame's vaults: actress and writer Zoe Kazan was speaking about rampant sexual harassment in Hollywood months before the Harvey Weinstein floodgates broke; singer and performer Lizzo on her wild year that started with a fateful appearance on Samantha Bee's show.

“The Post" screenwriters Elizabeth Hannah and Josh Singer talk about writing a movie with a woman— Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham — as the hero; Los Angeles Times pop music critic Mikael Wood shares some of his picks for the best music of 2017.

The film “Hostiles,” written and directed by Scott Cooper, both indulges in and overturns some of the familiar tropes of the Western genre; Rotten Tomatoes senior editor Grae Drake looks back on the year in film reviews and addresses some of the controversy surrounding the movie review aggregation site.

Writer/director Dee Rees on her film "Mudbound," about the harsh reality of life in the Jim Crow South, and its new resonance in 2017; Pasadena Playhouse brings the 1947 'Miracle on 34th Street' radio play to the stage; Facebook makes a play for YouTube's hold on music videos.

Questlove, drummer and leader of "The Tonight Show's" house band The Roots, talks about the emotional ballad he wrote for the movie "Detroit"; Actor/tax attorney Sandra Karas explains Actors' Equity Association's opposition to the tax overhaul that Congress passed today.

For his role in "The Florida Project" Willem Dafoe immersed himself into the world of the "hidden homeless;" A new website called Rotten Apples allows users to search TV shows and movies to see if anyone on the projects was accused of sexual misconduct; Italian filmmaker Marta Savina revisits a landmark rape case from 1965 in her short film “Viola, Franca."

Meet Hong Chau, the actress from Alexander Payne's movie "Downsizing," who's grabbing attention even before the film opens; how the radio drama version of "Star Wars" helped put NPR on the map; and three film critics (who happen to be under the age of 10) weigh in on "The Last Jedi."

DeLappe's play about high school girl soccer players was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for drama; what effect will the Net Neutrality vote have on content creators and distributors?; an old fashioned marquee gives a theater company a new identity.

Director Steven Spielberg, producer Amy Pascal and Tom Hanks discuss the present-day resonance of their new film 'The Post'; with Disney buying much of 21st Century Fox we look at what that means for Hulu; and Canadian singer Elise LeGrow taps Chicago roots in her debut album.

SAG announced its nominees for their awards and that all the presenters plus the host of the telecast will be women. How else will Hollywood awards shows amplify women's voices in this #metoo era?; Trans actress Daniela Vega from the Chilean film "A Fantastic Woman" hopes it teaches audiences empathy; watching Pixar's "Coco" in Mexico is a singular experience.

TV and film writer and producer Judd Apatow returns to his stand-up comedy roots in a special for Netflix; The Black List is an annual compilation of highly regarded, but unproduced scripts that are floating around town.

Actress Margot Robbie says she has empathy for the misunderstood skater Tonya Harding, who suffered from abuse; Disney is reportedly close to a deal to purchase Fox's movie studio and some TV assets; the art world came to Miami for Art Basel and related showcases.