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.

The FX series "Trust" explores the characters and circumstances surrounding the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III. Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy who won Oscars for "Slumdog Millionaire" re-team for their first American TV series.

"On the Exhale" is a play that's told from the perspective of a mother whose child was a victim at Sandy Hook Elementary; "Roxanne, Roxanne" charts the unlikely rise of rapper Roxanne Shonte; incentivizing diversity in the state’s film & TV tax credit program could help change the industry’s biased hiring practices.

In his new HBO series, Hader plays an assassin who doesn’t find his career totally satisfying. When he accidentally walks into an acting class, a whole new world opens up for him.

Actress Lola Kirke talks about her new noir thriller, which is set in Los Angeles; in The Actors' Gang's "The New Colossus," the audience votes on which characters should be allowed to stay in the U.S.; The Weinstein Co. releases employees from the non-disclosure agreements that kept them silent.

"Wild Wild Country" tells the story of an Indian guru who in the 1980s tried to transform an Oregon town into a massive utopia of enlightenment. But friction and violence ensued; "Rise" revolves around a group of high school drama kids in a struggling, working-class Pennsylvania town.

In “Sell/Buy/Date," playwright and performer Sarah Jones explores empowerment, sex and culture by inhabiting a variety of characters; the film and TV industries are undergoing a reckoning with #MeToo, but the music business has certain barriers that have kept women silent.

Filmmaker Rebecca Miller takes on a tough documentary subject: her iconic playwright father; Merrill Garbus addresses cultural appropriation on Tune-Yards' new album; Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" hits a legal roadblock from the estate of author Harper Lee.

Playwright Lauren Yee play is inspired by Cambodian psychedelic rock of the '70s, before Pol Pot singled out the nation’s artists; CherryPicks will aggregate movie, music and video game reviews from female critics; Ludwig Göransson dissects a song from his score for "Black Panther."

Taylor Mac is the theater artist, drag performer, MacArthur fellow and creative mind behind a 24-hour-long retelling of American history through popular songs; was James Levine allowed to remain in power at the Metropolitan Opera because of "maestro worship"?

Boots Riley of the hip-hop group The Coup talks about his directing debut, "Sorry To Bother You" – a satire about race in America; “High Maintenance” co-creator Katja Blichfeld says she and fellow co-creator Ben Sinclair kept the show intact despite their breakup; the massive SxSW tech, film and music fest is underway in Austin.

"A Wrinkle In Time" author Madeleine L'Engle mixed spirituality and science in her controversial book, now it's a big Disney movie; filmmaker Alma Har'el challenges the advertising business to hire more women to direct commercials; Spotify promises to expand your musical choices, but does it?

Hiro Murai had only directed music videos when Donald Glover tapped him to direct "Atlanta"; Amy Adrion's documentary, "Half the Picture," takes an empowering view of women in filmmaking; Tom Brosseau's latest album is titled "Treasures Untold."