The Frame

Adrian Tomine's most recent book, "Killing and Dying," is showing up on a lot of "Best of 2015" lists; Lucas Hnath, who once considered becoming a preacher, addresses themes of faith and salvation in "The Christians"; young British actors John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are in "The Force Awakens"

Will Smith reveals why he was reluctant to be in "Concussion" and how he sees Hollywood's diversity problem; Star Wars mega premiere and Disney's plans to monetize the new movie to the tune of billions; Spike Lee commends J.J. Abrams

Mary Steenburgen may be the busiest actress in TV. She can be seen on "Togetherness,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “The Last Man on Earth”; the annual list of the top un-produced screenplays is out; The Force is strong on the shelves of grocery and drug stores where you’ll find an endless variety of "Star Wars" tie-ins.

Nick Hornby is an esteemed novelist who also adapts other authors for the big screen, including his latest, "Brooklyn"; composer Dustin O’Halloran deconstructs his theme music from "Transparent" for Song Exploder; the Havana Film Festival showcases the nascent Cuban indie film movement.

The screenwriter talks about dramatizing the Apple co-founder's story and how Donald Trump "may be the end of political satire"; John Malkovich's reading of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" has been set to music by Yoko Ono, Ric Ocasek and other musicians.

The premise of the comedy "You're the Worst," created by Stephen Falk, is that even the most flawed people deserve to find love; the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations provide an early indicator of Oscar choices; The Beach Boys' album, "Pet Sounds," gets a spoken word treatment, of sorts.

Nathan Fielder offers off-the-wall business advice on his Comedy Central series, "Nathan For You"; the Grammys could be a face-off between friends Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar; Scott Fagan's 1968 album, "South Atlantic Blues," gets new life thanks to Light In the Attic records.

Daniel Wu was born in California but launched his acting career in China. Now he's starring in an AMC series that puts his martial arts background to good use; Katie Couric and Stephanie Soechtig will debut "Under the Gun" at the Sundance Film Festival.

At 82, Michael Caine plays the lead in 'Youth' but for the most part he considers himself retired; Roy Orbison's son releases his dad's 1969 lost album 'One Of The Lonely Ones'; The Oscar short list for documentaries is out and Sundance is the big winner.

Alan Yang says the Netflix series he created with Aziz Ansari was sparked by their shared experiences as millennials and second-generation Americans; Hollywood power brokers have ideas for improving the standing of women in the entertainment industry; the Sundance festival will include the directing debut of actress Clea Duvall.

California's film and TV industries are happily anticipating the state's expanded program to help keep production in-state; NBC will make all 13 episodes of "Aquarius" available online when the series debuts; Josh Gad (at left, with Billy Crystal) hopes "The Comedians" will improve his track record with TV projects.

At a presentation for advertisers, Hulu announces a new "Walking Dead" spinoff and an Amy Poehler project; Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa left Australia to join the band; Brett Morgen was given free rein in directing the documentary, "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" (pictured).

Hollywood actors, and one prominent producer, are largely bypassed in the Tony nominations; artist William Pope.L has his iconoclastic vision on display at MOCA (pictured); comedian Paul F. Tompkins isn't quite the King of All Media, but he's getting close; "The Wire" creator David Simon has good reason to care about Baltimore.

Documentarian Phelim MacLeer on his controversial play "Ferguson," a work of verbatim theater comprised entirely of excerpts from testimony in the Michael Brown case; Costume designer Lisa Padovani on mashing up influences for her work on "Gotham"; French artist Vincent Lamouroux's piece "Projection" covers an abandoned Silver Lake motel and it's palm trees with lime wash.

Summer movie preview of those films we shouldn't miss. Could Cuba's massive Biennial become a global center for art? The rise of the Asian American youtube star. And, as the latest sequel is set to pass $1 billion overseas, the "Fast and Furious" franchise adds number 8.

Hollywood studios continue to preview their 2015 slates at CinemaCon, the splashy convention for theater owners; Song Exploder dissects a new song by My Morning Jacket; photographer Ken Gonzales-Day draws parallels between the history of lynching and recent fatal shootings by police (pictured).

By the end of 2015, movie concession stands will have to divulge how many calories there are in your favorite snacks; Phox talks about the unglamorous life of a touring band; ‘Happyish’ creator Shalom Auslander (at right, with Bradley Whitford) on how the show handled the death of original lead actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The annual convention for film studios and movie theater owners gets underway in Las Vegas; a group of Latino musicians have put together a tribute to Morrissey (pictured) and The Smiths; David Rubin and Lora Kennedy discuss being a casting director in today’s film business.

The band Tame Impala teases Coachella audience with its next album (pictured: Kevin Parker); some L.A. stage actors say working in small theaters for next to nothing can actually help their careers; John Fithian, president of the movie theater trade association, has a strategy to boost slumping business.

With Verizon offering a pseudo a la carte TV model, is cable as we know it becoming a thing of the past?; L.A. Opera's production of "Hercules vs. Vampires" (pictured) blends a campy sword-and-sandal film with high art; Kyle Kinane admits the absurdity of his job as a stand-up comic.

A second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was unveiled today; "Dolphin's of Hollywood" (pictured) was a groundbreaking record store that opened in 1948, and its story is now the subject of a stage musical; how DJ and producer Mark Ronson ended up working with Stevie Wonder and author Michael Chabon.

Could the Santa Monica Museum of Art be leaving Santa Monica?; “Unfriended” producers Jason Blum and Couper Samuelson on the challenge of making a film thriller that plays out in real time on a laptop; the duo behind the band Sylvan Esso (pictured), currently playing Coachella, talk about the grind of being on tour.