The Frame

After the 2016 Presidential election, the singer/songwriter took a cross-country train trip and then wrote a song cycle of character sketches and personal reflections; Taylor Swift's recording contract is about to expire, giving her a world of options; Boots Riley's "Sorry to Bother You" is one of the year's biggest critical hits.

Director Chris Weitz's film 'Operation Finale' tells the amazing story of the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann; fans begin to pay their respects to the Aretha Franklin at the Museum of African American History in Detroit; and Cuban jazz pianist Dayramir Gonzalez is a rising star.

Breaking down the scene between Michelle Yeoh and her would be daughter-in-law, Constance Wu; documentary filmmaker Steve James spent a year inside a Chicago high school for the series, “America to Me”; remembering playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, who died at the age of 91.

The former "Gilmore Girls" co-star has an Emmy nomination for her role in the dystopian world of "The Handmaid's Tale"; Harvey Weinstein's legal woes seem to be mounting; Aneesh Chaganty, director and co-writer of the film, "Searching," has created a hyper-modern day thriller.

On Today's Show:

The co-star and Emmy nominee says she isn't daunted by challenges being faced by the cast; ever seen James Corden and friends performing a musical on the streets outside CBS on Fairfax? That's the work of Emmy-nominated choreographer Chloe Arnold.

The Emmy-nominated director of "Atlanta" talks about his collaborations with Donald Glover, his love of the Coen brothers and how the show set out to accurately portray life in urban Georgia; in the documentary, "What Haunts Us," Paige Goldberg Tolmach examines multiple suicides at her prep school alma mater; director Jesse Peretz and actor Chris O'Dowd talk about their movie, "Juliet, Naked."

Sarah Paulson has a lead actress Emmy nomination for "American Horror Story: Cult" — the seventh season of the anthology series; Bing Liu's videos of his skateboarding pals turned into the intimate documentary, "Minding the Gap."

Wayne Kramer, guitarist and leader of the Detroit rock band MC5, discusses his new memoir, "The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, the MC5, and My Life of Impossibilities"; Amazon is in the running to buy Landmark Theatres.

The iconic singer has died at the age of 76. We hear from her longtime bass player, Chuck Rainey; why has a documentary about her landmark 1972 performance at a Baptist church in Los Angeles never been released?; Daphne Brooks, a professor of African American Studies and Theater Studies at Yale University on the transcendent power of Aretha's voice.

Jon Robin Baitz's "Vicuña" now has a different resonance for actor Harry Groener, who plays a Donald Trump-like character; the final part of Richard Nelson’s trilogy, “Women of a Certain Age,” was set on election day and it premiered at N.Y.'s Public Theater as Americans voted; Serj Tankian of the metal band System of a Down is also a symphonic composer.

If Hillary Clinton is elected, she probably won't want to emulate the women presidents depicted on TV and in films; The Second City comedy troupe and Slate magazine teamed up for a “completely unbiased political revue”; which late night shows have benefitted most from the wild presidential campaign?

Benjamin Millepied opens up about why he abandoned a lifetime appointment at the Paris Opera Ballet to return full-time to the L.A. Dance Project; 'Doctor Strange' is the latest Marvel movie that will dominate the box office, but there's a casting controversy around Tilda Swinton in a role that originated in the comic book as an Asian character.

"The Ivory Game" directors used hidden cameras and bulletproof vests as they captured the underground ivory trade for the documentary that they hope will save elephants from extinction; writer-director Barry Jenkins opens up about the personal backstory to making his hit film, "Moonlight"; GLAAD releases its annual study of how LGBTQ characters are portrayed on TV.

Actor Aaron Eckhart says he’s come to terms with the reality of aging in Hollywood; it’s no longer rare to come across a women’s mariachi group, so the accomplished musicians of La Victoria are making their mark in different ways; the annual American Film Market in Santa Monica is crucial to the financing of independent movies.

The podcast network Gimlet Media's new shows include a radio drama with Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener and David Schwimmer and a docuseries from the producers of HBO's The Jinx; Filmmaker Janicza Bravo got her first TV break directing the most recent episode of "Atlanta"; Playwright Donald Margulies on the origin story of his play "The Model Apartment."

The film “Loving” is about the couple behind the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage in the U.S. Writer-director Jeff Nichols says he decided to concentrate on the relationship between Mildred and Richard Loving, instead of the case; Playwright Jon Robin Baitz’s talks about his new play, “Vicuña,” conceived just seven months ago when it became likely that Trump would be the GOP’s nominee.

British actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge turned her solo stage show, "Fleabag," into a hit TV series for the BBC and Amazon; comedian and rapper Pedro Herrera put his marketing degree to use when he created his stage persona, Chingo Bling; Vine is being shut down, but those six-second videos helped launch many careers.

Did you know 'The Good Place' is a tutorial on good and evil disguised as a network sit-com? Creator Mike Schur shares his hopes for his new NBC comedy starring Kristen Bell; The Frame gets a rare fly on the wall view of how the filmmakers of "Ouija: Origin of Evil" created the scary soundscape of the movie; CA film commissioner says the production economy in the Golden State is strong.

The co-creator of "The Blair Witch Project” talks about the genre of "found footage" movies that followed the 1999 hit; Hollywood's awards season is underway and it looks like there could be a diverse slate of actor nominees; execs from top tech and entertainment companies meet to figure out their next moves.

The legendary TV producer is going strong at the age of 94, with a remake of "One Day at a Time" set for Netflix; Janelle Monáe takes a break from music to act in her debut feature film, “Moonlight”; could Facebook challenge TV networks and YouTube as a platform for live streaming?

Prentice Penny, showrunner of "Insecure," shares his passion for making a slice-of-life comedy about young African-American women; a look inside USC's Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center; is AT&T's play for Time Warner a good business move?