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.

So many questions: why is Leonardo DiCaprio nominated for lead actor and Brad Pitt for supporting actor for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”?; why wasn't Robert DeNiro nominated for "The Irishman"?; why is Tom Hanks a supporting actor for “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”?; and how rare are Scarlett Johansson's nominations for both lead (“Marriage Story”) and supporting actress ("Jojo Rabbit")?

The actress had a breakout year, with roles in “Motherless Brooklyn,” “The Morning Show” and the well-reviewed but barely seen “Fast Color”; Clint Eastwood's "Richard Jewell" is being blasted over its depiction of a female journalist; “Joe Pera Talks With You” and we talk with him.

The museum marks its centennial with an exhibit of objects that were either acquired, published or exhibited in the year it was founded; are The Golden Globes legit or not?; “La Bohème aka The Hipsters” gets an ironic revival.

Mark Duplass on playing supporting roles in two projects tackling #metoo stories; Gugu Mbatha-Raw makes the case for seeing her buried movie "Fast Color"; the debate around black criticism of "Queen & Slim," a Netflix documentary exposes the toxic story of yoga guru Bikram Choudhury...

The 19-year-old filmmaker shot the movie while he was still in high school, and it won him awards at the Tribeca Film Festival; the U.S. Justice Dept. may allow studios to once again own movie theaters; the comedians who warm up TV studio audiences.

Bikram Choudhury made hot yoga an international phenomenon, but he allegedly assaulted a number of female students along the way, as told in a new documentary; should films by black artists be immune from criticism by black writers?; Beverly Hills High School had a pivotal role in "It's a Wonderful Life."

The influential event in Park City, Utah has built its reputation on films that advance racial diversity and gender parity; #PayUpHollywood takes the next step; the Sunset Studios in Hollywood mark their 100th anniversary.

The actor, writer, producer and director talks about his current roles for both TV and film; the Thanksgiving weekend box office kicked off the holiday season; the rapper JPEGMAFIA takes us inside his creative process.

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones last acted together in “The Theory of Everything.” Now they’re back together for a film in which they play 19th Century balloonists; two companies behind the vinyl record renaissance.

The Frame is five years old! We revisit memorable interviews, strange locations, some laughs and a few good cries. Meryl Streep, Jordan Peele, Tom Hanks, Lizzo, Guillermo del Toro, Emma Thompson, Ava DuVernay, Zach Galifiankis, Karyn Kusama, Mark Bradford, Jon Robin Baitz and more...

Actor Adam Driver and writer/director Noah Baumbach reunite for the fourth time for "Marriage Story"; composer Gabriela Ortiz's latest commission for the L.A. Philharmonic.

Writer Lena Waithe and director Melina Matsoukas talk about how the traumatic deaths of unarmed black people by police officers shaped their movie's narrative; five years after the Sony hack, what's changed in Hollywood?