The Frame

A new report by the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA says movies and TV shows with diverse casts (such as "Empire," pictured) make good financial sense; Song Exploder breaks down the theme song for "House of Cards"; a new stage production at CalTech takes "Alice Through the Wormhole."

How did Amy Poehler's sitcom (pictured) survive seven seasons of average ratings?; Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, returns to his musical roots with "Archive Series Volume Number One"; Wes Anderson's Oscar-winning film is the subject of a new book; the L.A. Philharmonic stages a multimedia production of "Alice in Wonderland."

Sam Beam -- better known by his stage name Iron and Wine -- started writing stripped down folk songs more than a decade ago in his bedroom in Miami, Florida. After experimenting with Jazz, R&B and Pop, he returns to his quiet folk music roots with “Archive Series Volume No. 1.” Iron and Wine performs a live-set of songs new and old for The Frame. Set List: "Everyone’s Summer of ’95” “Two Hungry Blackbirds” “Low Light Buddy of Mine” Our interview with Beam and more here: http://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2015/02/20/41644/iron-wine-performs-songs-from-archive-series-volum/ Video produced by Zach Stamey, James Kim and Maya Sugarman.

A special edition of The Frame examines Hollywood's diversity challenge with screenwriter José Rivera, producer Effie Brown and Frank Leonard, CEO of the The Black List screenplay project.

Many of the winners of the 87th Academy Awards joined us on The Frame to talk about their work. Hear from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Best Adapted Screenplay winner Graham Moore (pictured), Best Actress Julianne Moore and ... more!

“Comedy Bang Bang” host Scott Aukerman (far right, with sidekick Reggie Watts) loves and laughs at late-night talk shows; How the "Interstellar" sound editor created the sound of gravity; The indie film crowd gets raucous at the Independent Spirit Awards; How "Hero" by Family of the Year became the unofficial theme song of “Boyhood."

Photographer Sandro Miller talks about how he recreated some of the world’s most famous portraits with actor John Malkovich (pictured) as his muse; Kate Burton and Jason Robards talk about being second-generation actors; The sound designer from "Birdman" breaks down a scene from the film.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail have another stage hit with their hip-hop musical, "Hamilton" (pictured); How the sound editors for "Unbroken" created a pivotal scene for the movie; Thomas Lennon plays Felix Unger in CBS' remake of "The Odd Couple."

Jason Blum made his name producing successful, low-budget horror films, but he could get an Oscar as part of the producing team for "Boyhood" (pictured); the Sundance Institute pairs composers and filmmakers at Skywalker Ranch; Simon Rich's "Man Seeking Woman" is one of the most bizarre sitcoms on TV.

Our interviews with the best actors, best directors and more ahead of the Academy Awards. Hear from Wes Anderson, Alejandro Iñárritu (far right, with Michael Keaton), Richard Linklater, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Reese Witherspoon and more.

Chris Kelly, the writer-director of "Other People," shares the personal story behind his film about a gay son and his terminally ill mother; Nintendo's Pokemon franchise has been revived with an augmented reality phone app that's sweeping the nation; the Exceptional Minds School trains people on the autism spectrum for visual effects careers in Hollywood.

The recent spate of killings of African-Americans by police officers has inspired new protest songs and political acts by Jay-Z, the singer Miguel, Beyoncé, and Snoop Dogg; the writer and director of the new movie "The Infiltrator" are also mother and son; a top rock 'n' roll tour manager shares tales from his unglamorous life on the road.

In the wake of the past week's violence around the country, we hear from artists who see it as their duty to also be activists. Among the voices: poet Claudia Rankine, comedian Jerrod Carmichael and singer Aloe Blacc.

Aloe Blacc considers himself an "artivist" — equal parts artist and activist — and it's evident in his hopeful and soulful sound; Amazon's content division has added a new platform for the growing world of podcasts; why did a Variety film critic pick on Renee Zellweger's appearance?

Matt Ross may be most known for playing Gavin Belson, a narcissistic executive on the HBO show "Silicon Valley" but he's also a filmmaker. He's written and directed the new movie "Captain Fantastic," in which Viggo Mortensen plays a father of six children living off the grid; a former convict became a gifted guitar maker through the state's prison arts program.

Composer Cliff Martinez shares his philosophy on movie music and stories from his collaborations with Nicolas Winding Refn ("The Neon Demon," "Drive") and Steven Soderbergh ("Contagion," "The Knick"); how singer-songwriter Kandace Springs was inspired by her father and mentored by Prince; why the holiday weekend left Spielberg's "The BFG" wanting.

Roseanne Barr ran for the U.S. presidency in 2012 and a lot of people didn’t take her seriously. She came in 6th place in the general election and now she’s the subject of a documentary about her bid for the White House called “Roseanne for President!”; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members are voting for who will lead them on the Board of Governors into this new era. We hear from three people running for election

Comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel talk about moving their stand-up comedy show into a bus and out onto the streets of L.A.; Artist Martine Syms on her short film "Laughing Gas" now on display at "Made In L.A." at the Hammer Museum; Nielsen independently assembled ratings for three streaming shows: “Orange is the New Black," “Better Call Saul" and “Seinfeld."

July 1 is a big day for Sara Watkins: her new solo album is out and she performs on Garrison Keillor’s final “Prairie Home Companion"; Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs discusses the latest effort to diversify the historically white, male Hollywood institution; veteran visual effects supervisor Ellen Poon on what she learned in her first year as an Academy member.

Paul Dini went from writing Batman stories to mining his own traumatic history in the graphic novel “Dark Knight: A True Batman Story”; NBC is going all-in on Summer Olympic coverage like you've never seen; inside a bootcamp for Broadway dreamers with pros such as Taye Diggs.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" went off the air 17 years ago, but the cult TV show is having a reunion; Gary Ross has never been happier as a filmmaker than when doing research for the Civil War drama, “Free State of Jones.”; a federal judge dismissed another lawsuit filed against the Cinemark theater chain in relation to the 2012 mass shooting in Colorado.

Jennifer Lopez joins us from the set of her NBC show "Shades of Blue." She reflects on her life as an actress, singer, producer and mother and how she refuses to be "put in one box;" What does Brexit mean for the film, TV and music industries? We check in to see how the UK's exit from the European Union could impact the creative world.