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.

If you think musicians are getting shorted by streaming services, songwriters fare even worse; Google introduces Daydream, its virtual reality headset that works with Android phones; the new light rail stop at Santa Monica's Bergamot Station has some worried about the art center's future.

"Outlander" creator Ronald D. Moore and costume designer Terry Dresbach share secrets from their married life and work collaboration; an inside look at creating the music for the ABC comedy, "The Middle"; how diverse are the broadcast networks' new shows?

Filmmaker Lee Daniels and actors Geena Davis and Peter Jacobson tell The Frame's John Horn what it's like to be part of the dog-and-pony show that are the broadcast TV Upfronts. Director Jay Roach makes political theater into an HBO movie with LBJ's story in "All the Way." Songwriter Guy Clark remembered.

Paul Buckmaster's long music career began with David Bowie in the 1960s and includes arranging for Elton John, Miles Davis, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood; The Mexican female punk band 'Las Hijas de Violencia' combats street harassment with performance art; NBC and Fox kick of day one of the TV Upfronts.

'The Lobster' filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos reveals what lies behind his dark satire about love, society and relationships; The SFMOMA reopens with a new wing and new art but something is still missing; Broadcast TV networks cancel shows and rearrange line-ups ahead of next week's Upfront presentations to ad buyers.

The "Downton Abbey" creator has moved on to write the book for the Broadway musical, "School of Rock," and an interactive online novel, "Belgravia" but there may be a 'Downton' movie in the works; Donald Drumpf will begin fundraising in L.A, but does he have any Hollywood support?; singer-songwriter Andy Shauf makes a concept album, "The Party."

Comedian Ali Wong tackles everything from bodily functions, to specific sex acts, to the woes of feminism all while nearly 8 months pregnant in her Netflix special, 'Baby Cobra'; There’s a new music scene taking over south Los Angeles and it’s not hip-hop; Amazon mounts a challenge to YouTube.

Filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia and actor Ewan McGregor team up for a fresh take on a centuries-old story from the Bible; Chadwick Boseman follows roles as Jackie Robinson and James Brown with a new hero — Black Panther; Ticketmaster class action lawsuit plaintiffs won't get rich; YACHT's sex tape prank ends in a backlash.

Actors Alan Mandell and Barry McGovern continue their deep connection to Samuel Beckett at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Paula Fairfield uses unusual sources (animal sex!) for the dragon sounds in the fantasy series; the Cannes Film Festival kicks off this week with the usual glitz and glamour.

Louie Anderson drew on his own mom for his role as Zach Galifianakis' mother, Christine Baskets, and John Roberts did the same to voice Linda Belcher; a report from the NewFronts: YouTube wants to replace your TV.

"Captain America: Civil War" directors Joe and Anthony Russo went from directing TV sitcoms to the massive Marvel movie machine; how Beyoncé and Radiohead are changing the music marketing game; Millennials are forcing film schools to make MFA programs more responsive to their needs.

Tyler is a comedian, actress, talk show and podcast host, a voice on the animated series “Archer,” and she's about to direct her first film; David O. Russell and other prominent directors talk about the important job of script supervisor.