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.

Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe talk about their satirical film, which they wrote, directed, and star in; the legacy of film producer Robert Evans; Song Exploder with Raphael Saadiq.

What Robert Pattinson loves about acting and why he made the surreal film "The Lighthouse"; the buried American history inside HBO's "Watchmen," and "Jojo Rabbit" director Taika Waititi defends his anti-hate satire.

The sound editor turns director for her documentary on "The Art of Cinematic Sound"; pianist Cameron Graves is part of L.A.'s young generation of jazz artists.

The actor has in recent years taken on dark roles in the movie "Get Out" and the TV series, "The Handmaid’s Tale.” So he decided to lighten up with a sitcom.

The filmmaker — who endured an ill-advised screening at a major film festival, followed by The Weinstein Company filing for bankruptcy — is finally seeing the release of “The Current War: Director’s Cut”; is "South Park" worth $500 million on the streaming market?; Morrissey's political leanings may be jeopardizing his large Latino fanbase.

The actor bought the rights to Jonathan Lethem's book in 1999, and finally was able to direct his own adaptation of the novel.

In the singer/songwriter's new memoir, she reflects on death, sex, motherhood and misogyny.

Why Bradley Whitford is following his dark roles in "Get Out" and "The Handmaids Tale" with a new NBC sit-com; "Batwoman" creator says her lead was always going to be gay; The Chambers Brothers recount their musical journey

The actor has two major films this Fall, “Marriage Story” and “The Report.” He spoke with John Horn at the Telluride Film Festival.

The director adapted the screenplay for "JOJO Rabbit," a satire about a young German boy and his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler; the plight of assistants in Hollywood.

The actor stars in the thriller, which is a departure from the “Twilight” franchise that brought him fame.

Director Roxanne Benjamin on Shudder's new anthology series, "Creepshow"; why Fortnite went dark; Art Alexakis, the frontman of Everclear, is back with a solo album.