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 veteran actor talks about playing the attorney who was both loved and loathed as he turned Simpson’s murder trial into a debate on race in America.

Actor Cliff Curtis is familiar to TV audiences from “Fear the Walking Dead,” but in the new film “The Dark Horse" he transforms himself to play a toothless, bipolar chess genius. Miles Davis’ son and nephew recount how Don Cheadle’s biopic of the late trumpeter, "Miles Ahead" came to be. Virtual Reality is now a reality for consumers, we test drive some content made by Wevr.

Irish actress Lisa Dwan goes solo for a trilogy of works by her homeland's great playwright, Samuel Beckett; the band Songhoy Blues perseveres after extremists took over Mali; bad reviews didn't deter moviegoers who came out in droves for the superhero action film.

Garry Shandling's death has resulted in an outpouring of fond memories, including from former "Larry Sanders" writer Maya Forbes and filmmaker Mark Duplass; Daniel Clowes' new book, "Patience," is described as a "time-travel love story."

Playwright-turned-TV writer Jessica Goldberg explores a religious cult in "The Path"; comedian Garry Shandling dies at the age of 66; studios threaten to leave Georgia if its governor signs a bill that is considered anti-gay; the music from "Star Trek" is featured in a concert tour.

Ethan Hawke plays jazz singer and trumpeter Chet Baker in the biopic, "Born to Be Blue"; Lyle Workman added Latin sounds to the score for the set-in-L.A. Netflix series, "Love"; rapper Phife Dawg was a key member of A Tribe Called Quest.

Charles Roven was a producer on Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy and now he’s working with Zack Snyder on “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice”; Jesse Eisenberg on playing Lex Luthor; Rostam Batmanglij leaves Vampire Weekend for a solo career.

Producer DeVon Franklin's "Miracles from Heaven" is a new style of faith-based film; Aofie O'Donovan's latest album was inspired by childhood trips to visit her family in Ireland; there's a high failure rate for for film festivals as they struggle to find a place in the crowded marketplace.

"Midnight Special" filmmaker Jeff Nichols shares how being a father of a young son influenced his new movie and why his next film is about the Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia. The UK trio Haelos won the music industry lottery when it got into the Coachella Music Festival. How are changes in the TV biz impacting pilot season?

Co-creator and star Jerrod Carmichael tells The Frame why the NBC comedy "The Carmichael Show" tackles social issues like sexual identity and the Bill Cosby controversy; The Police's drummer Stewart Copeland gets the 1925 silent film "Ben-Hur" out of cold storage to write its score; Teenage classical music students learn to improvise.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes changes to its board in an effort to diversify. We talk with two members of the Academy about what's to come. Then composer Laura Karpman talks about her Grammy-winning composition "Ask Your Mama" and how she's working to get more women into the scoring stage.

Producer Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club, The People v. Larry Flynt) was among the Asian American professionals in Hollywood who sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences protesting offensive jokes told at the Oscars. Touring LACMA'S Mapplethorpe exhibit and finding unexpected art. We meet a young African American filmmaker undeterred by Hollywood's diversity problem.