The Frame

Show biz veterans run a TV channel at an industry retirement home (pictured); the head of UCLA's Center for African American Studies weighs in on e-mails from studio executives joking about President Obama's taste in films; and acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado gets the documentary treatment from his son.

Julianne Moore talks about her role as an Alzheimer's patient in "Still Alice" (pictured); the British holiday stage tradition known as panto comes to the Pasadena Playhouse; and a movie marketing executive assesses Sony's challenge with "The Interview."

Several Screen Actors Guild award nominees took risky bets that paid off; Singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno rewrites some holiday classics; and director Laura Poitras talks about her Edward Snowden documentary, "Citizenfour."

There's some casting controversy over Ridley Scott's Biblical tale, "Exodus" (pictured); Sean Rameswaram of the Sideshow podcast leads us through the gems and lumps of coal among this year's holiday albums; and playwright Rebecca Gale mines the social welfare system in "Luna Gale."

World premieres at next month's Sundance Festival include Paul Weitz's "Grandma," starring Lily Tomlin (pictured); as "Boyhood" garners more praise, Ethan Hawke talks about the film's effect on audiences; artist Jennifer Moon gets her inspiration behind the wheel; and Jean-Marc Vallee says he didn't choose "Wild," the project chose him.

Grammy nominations are out: What did voters get right/wrong?; LACMA curator Franklin Sirmans attends Art Basel Miami and lives to tell the story; Chadwick Boseman has played Jackie Robinson, James Brown (pictured) and soon will play Marvel’s first black superhero; Robert Downey Sr. on his film retrospective.

NBC's coverage of the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas tree lighting ceremony was almost disrupted by protests (pictured); Alexandre Desplat is one of Hollywood’s busiest and most celebrated composers; a neuroscientist on how cinema manipulates our minds; and why the current dearth of great sitcoms?

Filmmaker Kyle Alvarez on the thrill of being invited to the Sundance Film Festival; why Kevin Costner reached into his own pocketbook for "Black or White" (pictured); “Into the Woods” is back onstage and headed for the multiplex; and Daniel Catán's operatic legacy won't end with 'Florencia en el Amazonas.'

As movie award season gets underway, talk inevitably returns to the novelty of "Boyhood," which was named 2014's best film by New York critics; the Wende Museum in Culver City turns East German artifacts into artwork; and Carmen Esposito may be the hardest-working comedian in show biz.

Sony Pictures computers were hacked last week, resulting in several unreleased films being leaked. We also talk about the wider effects of film piracy; actress Reese Witherspoon (pictured in "Wild") and her producing partner, Bruna Papandrea, talk about how they're working to change the film industry.

The new Broad Museum is getting ready for its close-up. We get a sneak peek at the work it takes to curate and install hundreds of piece of art; The spectacular demise of “Fantastic Four” offers a case study in what can go wrong when a studio rushes a film into production and clashes with its director; John Ridley and actor Richard Cabral on how life imitated art in the ABC series "American Crime."

The hip-hop producer hasn't released an album in 16 years, but he's back with a collection inspired by the movie, "Straight Outta Compton"; Roberto and Kim Benabib combine comedy with global conflict in HBO's “The Brink”; MuseIque makes orchestral music more accessible with eclectic programs.

Kacee Clanton is one of two performers who play rock icon Janis Joplin in a classic jukebox musical; Vice's content tends to skew male, so it's targeting women with a new online channel; Will Geer started producing theater in Topanga Canyon more than 60 years ago, and his family is keeping up the tradition.

Before he landed on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart was the host of several short-lived shows; a lifelong fascination with Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" led to Salma Hayek turning the book into an animated film; composer Reinhold Heil provides the tense score for the Sundance Channel's "Deutschland 83"

British actress Bel Powley is decidedly American in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"; the Eagle Rock Gospel Choir is not a church-based group, but they've got the spirit; LA's theater community mourns the passing of playwright Lynn Manning.

The musician (Meryl Streep) at the heart of screenwriter Diablo Cody's "Ricki and the Flash" represents the common female struggle to balance family and work; an electronic dance festival in L.A. County is marred by two suspected drug-related deaths; Jon Stewart has inspired a group of Iraqi comedians to create a "Daily Show"-like web series.

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.