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."

Rock the Vote, the non-profit founded by music industry pros doing PSAs on MTV, is still rockin'. The organization has hired a former Bernie Sanders operative to do marketing and was present at both the GOP and Democratic conventions; Bonnie Raitt opens up about a life in music.

Filmmaker Paul Greengrass returns to make a new Jason Bourne movie, this time with cyber security on his mind; Now that Verizon is buying Yahoo!, what will become of the search engine's streaming TV shows?; A Sophocles play gets a modern update with veterans in the cast; Bill Clinton, binge watcher.

What happens when an aspiring filmmaker works as a nanny for wealthy L.A. mothers? Naturally, she comes up with a movie idea. Writer-director Sian Heder talks motherhood, movie-making and "Tallulah;" and a “Star Wars” movie set accident that could have killed Harrison Ford ends with a guilty plea.

The Congressman and civil rights icon was at Comic-Con to introduce the third part of his graphic novel memoir, "March"; there was plenty of news and previews at Comic-Con to keep the fanboys (and fangirls) happy.

The filmmaker leads a tour of the dwelling that houses his extensive collection of horror memorabilia and serves as his retreat; the Republican Convention had plenty of drama, but how much of it was scripted?

The annual pop culture extravaganza is underway in San Diego, with more than 100,000 fans expected to attend; CURRENT: LA chose 16 artists to make water-themed site-specific artwork around the city; "Lights Out" producer Lawrence Grey on why every big Hollywood director secretly wants to do a horror film.

Comedian Mike Birbiglia's new film is about improv, friendship and the struggles that go along with striving for your big break; "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer Red Granite Pictures is at the center of a federal complaint alleging that the film was financed with embezzled funds from Malaysia; We look into the history of pop song usage at political conventions.

R&B singer Irma Thomas never got the acclaim of Aretha Franklin or Etta James, but she is still the undisputed Soul Queen of New Orleans; actor LeVar Burton narrates the kids audio tour of The Broad museum because he's compelled to teach; after tragic shootings of police officers, the USA Network postpones its new series, "Shooter," to the fall.

Singer/songwriter Perla Batalla and playwright Oliver Mayer are collaborating on a new project about the iconic Mexican artist; California Light and Space artist Robert Irwin debuts a new work in West Texas; artists are going public with work at the Republican National Convention.

Betty Buckley offers a feminist take on Edie Bouvier in the musical "Grey Gardens," adapted from the Maysles brothers documentary of the same name; musician Rubén Guevera recounts a life in rock and roll; movie marketing in a time when real violence is all too prevalent.

Joe Weisberg and Joel Field, writers and executive producers for "The Americans," talk about the joy and surprise at getting the nominations that long eluded the show; Emmy-nominated hairstylist Amanda Mofield shares her secrets for creating hundreds of looks for "Key & Peele;" "Ghostbusters" screenwriter Katie Dippold defends her movie against critics.

Neil Druckmann is a writer and creative director who has won acclaim for his cinematic approach to video games such as "The Last of Us" and "Uncharted 4"; Eric Glatt was a lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Fox Searchlight after working as an unpaid intern on "The Black Swan." The case has settled, but his mission to challenge what he calls "wage theft" continues.