The Frame

Actress Judith Light has been passionate about LGBT issues for decades, which makes her a natural fit for Amazon's "Transparent"; Spotify has partnered with Genius to augment music with a feature called "Fact Track"; Contra-Tiempo is a dance company with a social conscience.

"Making a Murderer" continues to spark debate about the intersection between art, journalism, public reaction and the law; the Directors Guild Award nominees are announced; "Star Wars" opens in China, but the world's second largest movie market is a challenge for the franchise.

We pay tribute to David Bowie's life and career with Los Angeles Times critic-at-large Sasha Frere-Jones, Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, poet Tracy K. Smith, singer/actress Lea DeLaria, and New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley.

In our continuing series of conversations with TV network chiefs, ABC's Paul Lee talks about how diversity has become a cornerstone for the company; the Palm Springs Film Festival is a showcase for foreign films from around the world.

Writer/director David O. Russell has completed a trifecta with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in his latest film, "Joy"; the Producers Guild and the Writers Guild have announced their award nominees, one week before the Motion Picture Academy does the same; there really is a company called Central Casting that's been casting extras for 90 years.

Sarah Silverman's career took a serious turn when she took on the lead role in "I Smile Back," and now she's getting award buzz; Phyllis Nagy worked for 18 years to adapt a Patricia Highsmith novel for the movie, "Carol"; composer and conductor Pierre Boulez had a long connection to the Ojai Music Festival.

Diane Warren's latest success is “Til It Happens to You,” which Lady Gaga performed for the documentary, “The Hunting Ground”; Coachella's headliners include Guns N' Roses and LCD Soundsystem; The Discovery Channel is scaling back on reality shows to get back to its original mission.

HBO chief Michael Lombardo joins us for an intimate chat about what he learned from "True Detective" and more; Then, 2015 was a record year at the box office, but most of the ticket sales came from just a handful of movies. Ben Fritz of the Wall Street Journal helps shed light on this trend.

We put together a special episode of The Frame, featuring interviews with George Clooney, "Empire" creator Lee Daniels, musician Jenny Lewis, actress Julianne Moore, "Transparent" creator Jill Soloway and the R&B singer Miguel.

Don Randi's memoir, "You've Heard These Hands," details his years with the L.A. studio band that played on hundreds of hits in the 1960s and '70s; Kelly Sue DeConnick revamped the "Captain Marvel" series, but her "Bitch Planet" titles are with a smaller publisher that allows her to control her work.

Costume designer Ruth Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler played key roles in creating the look of "Black Panther"; singer/songwriter Moses Sumney breaks down his song, "Quarrel."

Filmmaker Agnes Varda and the street artist JR joined forces to capture faces from the French countryside; "Aleppo" director Feras Fayyad hopes his partners can attend the Oscars; the musical "Allegiance," starring George Takei, is finally coming to Los Angeles.

Gary Oldman convinced Kazuhiro Tsuji to transform the actor into Winston Churchill for "Darkest Hour"; "Black Panther" is a phenomenon before it even opens; “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” (To Cross the Face of the Moon) is believed to be the first mariachi opera.

Mary J. Blige is the first person to get an Academy Award acting nomination and a best song nod for the same film ("Mudbound”); married songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have an Oscar nomination for “Remember Me” from “Coco”; Ryan Murphy, the producer behind the “American Horror Story” and “American Crime Story” franchises, is leaving Fox for Netflix.

At the age of 23, Saoirse Ronan already has two Academy Award nominations as a lead actress, including for "Lady Bird"; Barack and Michelle Obama's official portraits have people talking; inside an audition for "America's Got Talent."

Actress Allison Janney has an Oscar nomination for playing Tonya Harding's mother in "I, Tonya"; several Olympic ice skaters are using songs from Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge"; the N.Y. attorney general filed a civil rights lawsuit that could halt sale of The Weinstein Co.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, the Oscar-nominated co-writers of "The Big Sick," talk about the eventful year since their semi-autobiographical film debuted; Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe explains why the first-time actors in "The Florida Project" had a leg up on him.

How much does The Peacock Network have riding on the Winter Games? A lot.; "The Trade" is Showtime's bracing documentary series about the opiod epidemic; James Ivory's screenplay for "Call Me By Your Name" could finally give him his first Oscar.

Dee Rees on her film "Mudbound," about the harsh reality of life in the Jim Crow South, and its new resonance today; morality clauses meant to curb workplace harassment enter Hollywood contracts; after years of estrangement, photographers (and brothers) Andrew and Stuart Douglas reunite with an LA photo exhibition.

The rapper and veteran songwriter collaborated on the Oscar-nominated "Stand Up for Something"; playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes trilogy of plays get a concurrent staging in L.A.; this year's Havana Jazz Fest featured first-time performances by a few expats.

Salim Akil, creator of the CW series, "Black Lightning," says black superheroes are needed more than ever; after Uma Thurman accused Tarantino of abusing her and putting her at risk on a movie set, will his next film proceed as planned?; hardcore movie fans now have a fantasy league of their own.

Justin Timberlake is back at the Super Bowl, but why isn't Janet Jackson?; Jennifer Fox's "The Tale" is the true story of the sexual abuse inflicted by her riding coach when she was a teen; women in the music industry are calling for Grammy president Neil Portnow to resign.