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.

Playwright Stephen Karam tells the story of making "The Humans" a Broadway hit; "Hamilton" broke a Tony nomination record and Broadway proves more diverse than Hollywood; Anybody who's anyone in the digital media world is making online videos, so what's hot at the Newfronts?

The Broadway musical "School of Rock" stars Alex Brightman in the role originated by Jack Black in the 2003 movie of the same name; the married musical duo Marty and Elayne celebrate 35 years of their lounge act at The Dresden Room; a massive festival planned by the promoters of Coachella is stacked with some of the biggest — and oldest — names in classic rock.

Susan Sarandon and Rose Byrne star in Lorene Scafaria's film that was inspired by her own meddlesome mother; North Carolina’s so-called “bathroom law" has some film/TV studios threatening to move out of state. Three below-the-line workers tells us how their lives and careers could be upended; Pace Gallery opens its first West Coast venue in Palo Alto.

Tracy Oliver co-wrote "Barbershop: The Next Cut," her biggest credit in a career that's only getting bigger; What does Comcast's $3.8 billion deal to buy DreamWorks Animation say about the state of Hollywood?; musician and composer Adam Young is writing scores for movies that haven't been made.

Raymond Lee channels the mindset of a school shooter, and the legacy of Korean rage, in the new play "Office Hour"; Vulture's Kyle Buchanan on the trend of casting actors such as Idris Elba and Lupita Nyong'o in roles where you don't see their faces; Kevin Morby finds musical inspiration in his L.A. neighborhood.

Eddie Huang criticized ABC's adaptation of his memoir, "Fresh Off The Boat." He's turned to reality TV for the Viceland food-travel series "Huang's World"; Turner Classic Movies and Criterion Collection are creating a streaming service for film fanatics; painter Lily Simonson's new exhibit depicts the world she found while on a research expedition to Antarctica.

The official weapons master for "Game of Thrones," Tommy Dunne, shares secrets from the show's war chest; "After The Thrones" is the official GoT after-show, hosted by Andy Greenwald; Beyoncé takes a bold artistic and personal leap forward with her new album and short film.

John Carney ("Once") makes a love letter to '80s rock with his new movie, "Sing Street"; playwright, choreographer and theatrical activist Larissa FastHorse chronicles what it means to be a Native American in Los Angeles through her play, "Urban Rez."

The Frame pays tribute to Prince: music critic Melissa Ruggieri reports on Prince's final concerts; singer Judith Hill had her debut album produced by Prince; Alex Pappademas of MTV News on Prince's legacy in music and film; and Scott Goodman got a personal request from Prince to have his music removed from Goodman's file sharing website.

Kathryn Bostic has a varied music career as a composer for film, stage and the concert hall, and a singer/songwriter; the Ford Amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills is nearing the end of an extensive renovation; an unprecedented number of women comic book writers and artists are up for Eisner Awards.

Kamau Bell's new CNN docu-series gets off to a wild start when he spends time with some Ku Klux Klan members on their turf; on a new episode of Song Exploder, punk legend Iggy Pop and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age dissect their collaboration.

Rachel Bloom, star and co-creator of the CW show, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” reveals how she took her love of musical theater and made it into a modern day commentary on sex and the single woman; Plus, electronic music rules at Coachella this year. We'll hear a wrap-up of the first weekend and a review of some wearable tech aimed at audiophiles.