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.

In our fourth and final dispatch from Telluride, The Frame host John Horn interviews Ethan Hawke and musician Seymour Bernstein. Hawke directed the documentary, "Seymour: The Introduction," chronicling Bernstein's devotion to teaching students to love music and overcome creative pitfalls. Telluride also saw the premiere of "The Imitation Game," a film about the WWII British code breaker Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), which already has Oscar buzz. We spoke with the film's writer, Graham Moore, both before and after the first public screening of his first produced screenplay. And we also chatted with the film's Norwegian director, Morton Tyldum, debuting his first English-language feature.

In our latest podcast from the Telluride Film Festival, The Frame host John Horn talks with the acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, who, with "Birdman," takes a somewhat lighter approach from his previous films such as "Biutiful" and "Amores Perros." In the dark comedy, Michael Keaton plays a film action hero who's trying to establish his artistic credibility on Broadway.

In our second dispatch from the Telluride Film Festival, "The Frame" host John Horn interviews Jon Stewart. The "Daily Show" host makes his feature directing debut with "Rosewater," the story of Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), who was arrested and tortured while covering Iran's 2009 presidential election.

"The Frame" crew is in Colorado covering the 2014 Telluride Film Festival. In this first festival dispatch, "The Frame" host John Horn moderates a Q&A with the cast and filmmaker behind "Wild." Hear Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, director Jean-Marc Vallée ("Dallas Buyers Club") and author Cheryl Strayed talk about bringing her book to the big screen. "Wild" Q&A photos by Merrick Chase

Today on The Frame, we hear from 'Training Day' director Antoine Fuqua about his unfinished Showtime documentary on Suge Knight and how he got the news the rap mogul had recently been shot six times. Then, we talk to director Xavier Dolan at the Telluride Film Festival where his feature, "Mommy," is screening after winning the Jury Prize at Cannes. We also hear from 27-year-old Brad Colburn on how he amassed a following of people who watch him play video games online, (Yes, that's a thing.) Plus, why the Converse shoe brand is paying for up-and-coming musicians' studio time.

In our second podcast, we discuss TV's biggest night, the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Then we meet "Mad Men" writer/producer Tom Smuts, who is organizing a bike ride to the Emmys with a group of fellow nominees. Singer/Songwriter Dan Bern performs two songs riffing on the nominees for the Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series Emmys. We take a listen to Lauryn Hill's song "Black Rage," which she released in response to the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri. Finally, La Santa Cecilia and the Yuval Ron Ensemble mash-up their influences.

Our inaugural podcast looks at how artists respond to social and racial strife; the odd couple of Zach Galifianakis and President Obama wins a Creative Arts Emmys; and the roots of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon.