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.

Los Lobos' Louie Pérez offers insights into the band's new album, "Gates of Gold"; Margaret Cho has become a role model for a new generation of Asian-American comedians; J.A. Micheline is glad Ta-Nehisi Coates will write some Black Panther comic books, but she says the industry has more work to do regarding diversity.

Playwright Rolin Jones reimagines Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," setting it in London's swingin' 1960s; Prince and the publishing house claiming a copyright to "Happy Birthday to You" both lose in court; Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre moves its soap opera dance-drama around L.A.

Box office hits such as "Bridesmaids" are being cited as part of an effort to push for more movies and TV shows by, for and about women; The Budos Band makes do as a part-time group; The new TV season is chock-full of new shows that were once feature films.

Emily Mortimer, Dolly Wells and their husbands and kids star in HBO's "Dolly & Em," but it's not about them; Diversity and gender equity were top of mind at the Emmy Awards; The Toronto International Film Festival supplied its annual dose of Oscar buzz.

How director Denis Villeneuve created the suspense of 'Sicario' and why he's remaking 'Blade Runner'; The Broad is about to open its doors and art critics are critical; Harry Nilsson fans lobby the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Go inside The Broad museum's galleries, art storage and hidden corners with the Chief Curator as our guide; What we watch when we watch the Emmys; The LA Phil has turned itself and its conductor Gustavo Dudamel into a roving virtual reality experience.

Working in Visitor Services at the new museum means being part-concierge, part-docent, and part-guard; Director Scott Walker and actor Joel Edgerton were challenged in making the Bulger story, "Black Mass"; ABC News partners with the virtual reality company Jaunt to make VR more accessible.

As creator of the TV series "Transparent," Jill Soloway is a rarity, according to a new report from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film; Joe Adalian of Vulture.com handicaps the new TV season; Jay Duplass went from being a reluctant actor to a vey happy one.

Film composer Atticus Ross took Brian Wilson's music and created sound collages for the score to "Love and Mercy"; the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has settled differences with a neighborhood group over the new facility planned for Wilshire and Fairfax; for composer Derrick Spiva, music is all about movement.

Author Emma Donoghue adapted her best-selling novel into a screenplay about a mother and son being held captive; National Geographic Society CEO Gary Knell says it will maintain its mission even though 21st Century Fox now owns a controlling interest; The Toronto International Film Festival is huge, and hugely influential.

The actor plays a homeless man in the new feature film, "Time Out of Mind," which he also produced; Aretha Franklin's objection to the screening of the documentary "Amazing Grace" has now affected the Toronto and Chicago film festivals; In our latest installment of "Song Exploder," Hrishikesh Hirway breaks down "Feeling OK" with the band Best Coast.

Producer Jessica Elbaum and writer-director Leslye Headland team up for "Sleeping With Other People" (starring Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis); Apple introduces new products, but you still can't stream Amazon shows through Apple TV; "The Princes of Kings Road" is a new play that examines the complicated relationship between iconic L.A. architects Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra.