The Frame

Bob Thiele leads The Forest Rangers, a band that was spawned by the "Sons of Anarchy" TV series; comedian Andy Kindler takes no prisoners when he gives his annual State of the Industry speech; a filmmaker is challenging the copyright claim to "Happy Birthday to You," which keeps the song out of many TV shows and movies.

When Marlon Brando died, he left hundreds of hours of himself on tape, which were culled for the documentary, "Listen to Me Marlon"; a 1965 gospel concert at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium was special not only for its stars, but also because it was recorded — a rarity for its day; NBC Universal will reportedly invest $250 million in BuzzFeed's growing digital empire.

Five finalists were chosen to develop pilot scripts for a TV series that calls for a female engineer protagonist; Summer can be a great time to watch TV, if you know where to look; the singer Little Boots was once signed to Atlantic Records, but she decided having her own label is a better fit.

A comedy writer has sued Conan O'Brien, claiming his show stole jokes that were first posted on Twitter; on "Song Exploder," Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie dissects "El Dorado"; director James Ponsoldt was initially skeptical that a book about being on tour with writer David Foster Wallace could be a movie.

The Beijing-based Wanda Group financed "Southpaw," just the latest example of Chinese investments in Hollywood; The Next MacGyver contest hopes to encourage women engineers with the promise of a TV pilot; Juilliard-trained Brad Segal has become the go-to composer for reality shows.

The British actor reunites with director Bill Condon to play a 93-year-old version of Sherlock Holmes in "Mr. Holmes" (pictured); Chinese authorities have returned the passport of dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who had been unable to leave the country since 2011; the makers of the documentary about crowd-funding, "Capital C," financed their film through a crowd-funding campaign.

Noted muralist Kent Twitchell (pictured) has created a new work for the Special Olympics; playwright Todd Almond was inspired by Matthew Sweet's 1991 album, "Girlfriend," for his musical about growing up gay; the Teragram Ballroom tries to carve out a niche on the local live music landscape.

Kurt Sutter has been writing film scripts while working on demanding TV shows, and now his first feature, "Southpaw" (pictured), is being released; the singer Miguel talks about growing up mixed-race in his beloved L.A.; the box office for "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" and "Dope" hasn't measured up to their indie darling hype.

A landmark album from 1966 (pictured) pairing the singer and bandleader is revisited as part of a Sinatra tribute at the Hollywood Bowl; YouTube is betting that audiences will pay for a commercial-free service; Camp Reel Stories is a summer camp designed to introduce teenaged girls to filmmaking.

Lisa Hanawalt's lifelong equine obsession pays off in her role as production designer for the animated series, "BoJack Horseman" (pictured); with embassies re-opening in Washington and Havana, cultural exchange could be on the upswing; costume designers for superhero movies take comic book drawings and turn them into flashy but practical outfits.

The writer and actor is the son of Eugene Levy, and they are the co-creators and co-stars of the series, "Schitt's Creek"; John Horn reports from the Sundance Film Festival; a new dance performance inspired by horticulture.

Could Linda Perry be the first woman to win a Grammy for Producer of the Year?; a preview of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival; the host and executive producer of KPCC's podcast "The Big One."

Film critic Claudia Puig talks about the odds for Alfonso Cuarón's biopic about his childhood in Mexico City; the actresses from "Roma" — Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira; Hannah Beachler ("Black Panther") is the first African-American to be nominated for production design.

The pianist and composer talks about and performs music from the movie about Don Shirley; what were the most streamed songs and albums of 2018?

"The Apprentice" creator Mark Burnett is the subject of a riveting, comprehensive story in The New Yorker; Sony Music is reportedly dropping R. Kelly; Isabella Rossellini is the ringleader of an animal circus!

The playwright talks about his latest production, which revolves around a man going through a divorce and an epic mid-life crisis; the band Los Texmaniacs has a timely remake of a Woody Guthrie song about farmworkers.

The much-hyped Fyre Festival seemed to good to be true —and, as a new Netflix documentary shows, that was sadly the case; YouTube's struggles to police user-generated content; the influential artist and critic Manny Farber.

The 21-year-old singer who prefers to remain anonymous is nominated for Album of the Year and Best New Artist; NBC Universal joins the crowded field of streaming services; the Spanish singer Rosalía is putting a fresh spin on flamenco.

The company led by Benjamin Millepied is presenting its first full season in its new home in L.A.'s Arts District; a former Weinstein Company film, "The Upside," won the box office this weekend. What has become of all the former Weinstein properties?; generations of African-American harpists bond over their connection to a pioneer of the genre.

The remake with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga is the only movie nominated in all 11 guild and film society award competitions; Merrill Markoe and Megan Koester chat about their audiobook, "The Indignities of Being a Woman"; the venerable country-swing band Asleep at the Wheel is still rollin' along.

Series creator Michael Schur and one of the show's key writers, Jen Statsky, talk about the ways that the cast and crew take their own research and turn it into a hit show; John Lasseter was ousted from Pixar over inappropriate behavior, and his hiring at another studio has created a furor.

In 2018, for the first time in the 90-year history of the Academy Awards, a woman was nominated for cinematography. Why did this recognition take so long?; L.A.-based singer/songwriters recently gathered in Topanga Canyon to share their works; on Song Exploder, Yo-Yo Ma deconstructs one of his signature Bach performances.