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.

A vocal group from "Pitch Perfect 2" (pictured) takes us inside the world of competitive singing; a week after Chris Burden died, his final work launches at the L.A. County Museum of Art; the Minnesota Orchestra plays a role in normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba; critics are effusive about the debut album by Shamir.

You know who’s really sad to see “Mad Men” end? The local businesses that supplied all that vintage clothing and furniture; musician Robert Cray and filmmaker Antoine Fuqua pay tribute to blues legend B.B. King (pictured); director Andrew Niccol’s new film, “Good Kill,” examines the difficult life of an Air Force drone pilot.

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner (far right) talks about the show's legacy; if Harry Shearer leaves "The Simpsons," what would Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman and Mr. Burns say?; Chad Hodge sheds some light on his confusing new series, "Wayward Pines"; CBS' fall plans include "Supergirl."

Marc Maron (pictured) does stand-up, hosts a popular podcast, and his TV show is beginning its second season; at the TV upfronts in New York, the never-ending search for Latino audiences goes on; an artist-turned-radio producer seeks to find out why he's compelled to draw while riding the subway.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" has the hottest trailer, the best reviews and one of the oldest working filmmakers. We go deep with director George Miller (pictured with Charlize Theron); Crash the red carpet with our sneak peek of the Cannes Film Festival; ABC doubles down on diversity for fall season.

Reggie Watts (pictured), the one-man band from "Comedy Bang Bang," has moved on to become a bonafide bandleader on CBS' "The Late Late Show"; L.A. Times art critic Christopher Knight discusses the work of the late Chris Burden, who created two popular installations at the L.A. County Museum of Art.

As the Los Angeles County Museum of Art marks its 50th anniversary, CEO Michael Govan discusses the museum's past, present and future; the museum's coming exhibitions include a showcase for the late L.A. assemblage artist, Noah Purifoy.

As the big TV networks prep to unveil their new Fall line-ups, one show looms large — "Empire"; a new film about Gloria Trevi, known as "The Mexican Madonna"; former MTV news correspondent Tabitha Soren has a new photo exhibit of her work documenting the careers of minor league baseball players (pictured).

CalArts marks the 25th anniversary of its Community Arts Partnership with an annual stage show at Plaza de la Raza; Chaz Budwick is the musical talent behind Toro y Moi; first-time filmmakers Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel were fortunate to get Jack Black for "The D Train" (pictured).

Disney is in a dispute with theater owners over box office revenue from "Avengers: Age of Ultron"; the defunct TV show "Revolution"gets new life as a digital comic book; Best Coast (pictured) continues its love affair with California on the band's new album.

A writer asks: How Much Is Music Worth?; an L.A. teen is a finalist in the August Wilson Monologue Competition on Broadway; composer Brian Tyler creates movie magic with his scores to films like "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (pictured) and "Furious 7"; and "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin is a Deadhead.

New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz says the new Whitney Museum is showing up the rest of the art scene; a new exhibit at Sotheby’s (pictured) pairs work by prominent African-American artists with a soundtrack curated by rapper Drake; Rebekah Maysles, daughter of the late documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, worked with her father on one of his last films, “Iris.”