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.

Costume designer Ruth Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler played key roles in creating the look of "Black Panther"; singer/songwriter Moses Sumney breaks down his song, "Quarrel."

Filmmaker Agnes Varda and the street artist JR joined forces to capture faces from the French countryside; "Aleppo" director Feras Fayyad hopes his partners can attend the Oscars; the musical "Allegiance," starring George Takei, is finally coming to Los Angeles.

Gary Oldman convinced Kazuhiro Tsuji to transform the actor into Winston Churchill for "Darkest Hour"; "Black Panther" is a phenomenon before it even opens; “Cruzar la Cara de la Luna” (To Cross the Face of the Moon) is believed to be the first mariachi opera.

Mary J. Blige is the first person to get an Academy Award acting nomination and a best song nod for the same film ("Mudbound”); married songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have an Oscar nomination for “Remember Me” from “Coco”; Ryan Murphy, the producer behind the “American Horror Story” and “American Crime Story” franchises, is leaving Fox for Netflix.

At the age of 23, Saoirse Ronan already has two Academy Award nominations as a lead actress, including for "Lady Bird"; Barack and Michelle Obama's official portraits have people talking; inside an audition for "America's Got Talent."

Actress Allison Janney has an Oscar nomination for playing Tonya Harding's mother in "I, Tonya"; several Olympic ice skaters are using songs from Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge"; the N.Y. attorney general filed a civil rights lawsuit that could halt sale of The Weinstein Co.

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, the Oscar-nominated co-writers of "The Big Sick," talk about the eventful year since their semi-autobiographical film debuted; Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe explains why the first-time actors in "The Florida Project" had a leg up on him.

How much does The Peacock Network have riding on the Winter Games? A lot.; "The Trade" is Showtime's bracing documentary series about the opiod epidemic; James Ivory's screenplay for "Call Me By Your Name" could finally give him his first Oscar.

Dee Rees on her film "Mudbound," about the harsh reality of life in the Jim Crow South, and its new resonance today; morality clauses meant to curb workplace harassment enter Hollywood contracts; after years of estrangement, photographers (and brothers) Andrew and Stuart Douglas reunite with an LA photo exhibition.

The rapper and veteran songwriter collaborated on the Oscar-nominated "Stand Up for Something"; playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes trilogy of plays get a concurrent staging in L.A.; this year's Havana Jazz Fest featured first-time performances by a few expats.

Salim Akil, creator of the CW series, "Black Lightning," says black superheroes are needed more than ever; after Uma Thurman accused Tarantino of abusing her and putting her at risk on a movie set, will his next film proceed as planned?; hardcore movie fans now have a fantasy league of their own.

Justin Timberlake is back at the Super Bowl, but why isn't Janet Jackson?; Jennifer Fox's "The Tale" is the true story of the sexual abuse inflicted by her riding coach when she was a teen; women in the music industry are calling for Grammy president Neil Portnow to resign.