The Frame

Young Jean Lee's play, "Straight White Men," is an examination of privilege that provokes and challenges audiences; movie theater owners are getting creative about selling "Star Wars" merchandise and concessions; Lorely Rodriguez, aka Empress Of, is getting raves for her debut album.

Spike Lee's latest provocation likens the level of gun violence in Chicago to a war zone; Rooney Mara's performance in "Carol" adds to her already impressive list of credits; the beloved "Charlie Brown" holiday special, now in its 50th year, wasn't originally embraced by network executives.

Eddie Redmayne, last year’s best actor Oscar winner for “The Theory of Everything,” talks about portraying a trans-woman in “The Danish Girl”; Latin Grammy-winner Natalia Lafourcade deconstructs her song, “Hasta La Raíz”; This year's Independent Spirit Award winners will likely differ a lot from the Oscars.

As producer of the "Hunger Games" movies and a former studio executive, Nina Jacobson has a platform to demand gender equality in Hollywood; Pixar president Ed Catmull has helped build the studio into the empire it is today.

Ryan Coogler grew up watching the "Rocky" movies, and now he's director and co-writer of the spin-off, "Creed"; How "Toy Story" saved a struggling special effects firm called Pixar; "The Hunting Ground" inspires the question: can journalism and advocacy co-exist in documentaries?

Todd Haynes has directed several films with women as protagonists and his latest is “Carol,” which stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara; MADtv debuted 20 years ago and managed to stay on the air for 14 seasons; a club owner considers L.A. nightlife after the Paris attacks.

Series creator Kurt Sutter is disappointed but not bitter about the cancellation of "The Bastard Executioner"; it's been 20 years since MADtv set out to be the west coast version of "Saturday Night Live"; "The Hunting Ground" examines sexual assaults on college campuses.

Writer-producer John McNamara and director Jay Roach talk about the struggle to make "Trumbo," about the 1940s Hollywood blacklist victim; Nancy Tartaglione, international editor for Deadline.com, on the importance of cinema in France; Rashard Bradshaw, aka Cakes da Killa, is a loud and proud gay rapper.

The Marvel comics character Jessica Jones has a dark backstory, which is what inspired producer Melissa Rosenberg to create a TV series about her; in the documentary "Song of Lahore," a group of Pakistani musicians use a jazz standard and You Tube to find a global audience; Pandora will enter the on-demand music streaming business.

After taping an episode in Cuba earlier this year, Conan O'Brien travels to Armenia with his assistant, who gets to visit her family's homeland; the terrorist attacks in Paris have caused two networks to postpone sensitive episodes, and several bands have canceled European dates.

Director Bill Pohlad cast two actors to play Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson in two periods of his life (pictured: Paul Dano as the young Wilson); Algiers' singer Franklin James Fisher talks about the group’s politically-charged debut album; 28-year-old New Orleans musician Jon Batiste will lead the band on "Late Night with Stephen Colbert."

Hollywood is rarely more out of touch with reality than in how it romantically pairs young actresses with much older actors (pictured: Emma Stone with Ed Norton); Rupert Parkes, aka Photek, is known for his remixes, but he’s also the composer for TV's “How to Get Away With Murder”; California's increased tax credits for movies and TV is already paying dividends.

Apple is expected to introduce its music streaming service next week, but can the company make gains against Spotify?; L.A. Philharmonic music director Gustavo Dudamel (pictured) reflects on his six seasons on the podium and his long-term future here; Pete Townsend has recorded a new version of his rock opera, "Quadrophenia," with actual opera singers.

Writer-director Paul Feig gets to fulfill his Bond movie fantasy with "Spy"; the bistro at Whole Foods in Pasadena hosts a monthly comedy night (pictured); "San Andreas" director Brad Peyton takes us into his edit suite to show how he assembled one key sequence for the disaster film.

Cameron Crowe's new movie, "Aloha," is being savaged by critics; a visit with legendary L.A. artist Ed Moses (pictured) at his Venice compound; the arts organization Clockshop is making good use of a parcel of land on the banks of the Los Angeles River.

Terry Teachout turned his biography of Louis Armstrong into a play, "Satchmo at the Waldorf" (pictured); a tour of the inventory for special effects and makeup master Rick Baker's auction of his monstrous creations; Film LA reports an increase in movie production in California in 2013 — even before the new tax incentives kicked in.

U2 begins a string of five shows at The Forum on its Innocence + Experience Tour; a new work by Philip Glass is being premiered by the L.A. Philharmonic; Special effects and makeup master Rick Baker (far right) is auctioning a career's worth of monstrous creations.

The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up in typical fashion with an unexpected grand prize winner alongside the requisite victim of critics' ire; in our "Song Exploder" segment, a breakdown of the "Downton Abbey" theme music; playwright Paul Oakley Stovall tackles racism and homophobia among African-Americans in "Immediate Family" (pictured).

Four filmmakers talk about possible solutions for an industry that's been criticized for "widespread exclusion" of women directors; the movie "Tomorrowland" continues the futuristic vision promoted by Walt Disney (pictured at left); Memorial Day is no longer the beginning of summer for the movie business.

Four successful women filmmakers share their stories about an industry that's been criticized for "widespread exclusion" of women directors (pictured: Catherine Hardwicke); classical guitarist Angel Romero performs "Concierto de Aranjuez" with the L.A. Philharmonic; the Rolling Stones rolled into L.A. for a semi-secret show. Were you there?

Memorable moments with David Letterman from comedian Paul Morrissey, Louie Pérez of Los Lobos, and former assistant Cassie St. Onge; comc book writer G. Willow Wilson famously created Ms. Marvel — a female superhero who, like Wilson, is an American Muslim.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" production designer Colin Gibson (pictured) was responsible for the film's insanely tricked-out cars, trucks and motorcycles; Hot Chip's new album goes in a different direction for the indie-electro band; Deaf West Theatre moves its hit production of the musical "Spring Awakening" to a larger space.