The Frame

It's a rarity for a woman to direct a big budget, comic superhero movie, but Jenkins has torn down the walls with her critically-acclaimed box office smash.

Broadway will honor the best in theater on Sunday night at the 71st annual Tony Awards. But there's one group of performers who will not be recognized, despite the fact that they often make up the majority of the cast in a musical. The Ojai Music Festival highlights an arts collective from the South Side of Chicago that launched 50 years ago by giving the west coast premiere of an opera about the collective titled "Afterward."

“Beatriz at Dinner” is set at a dinner party in a Southern California mansion. The filmmakers and long-time collaborators open up about how they sought to use the setting as a means to unpack "casual racism," and comparisons between John Lithgow's character and Donald Trump.

Movie trailers are both art and advertising. A co-founder of the annual Golden Trailer Awards breaks down what goes into the making of a trailer and why they honor the best and the worst each year. And filmmaker Trey Edward Shults says that dealing with his father's death and his own fear of dying informed his new thriller "It Comes At Night."

Bill Maher’s use of a racial epithet on his HBO show has led to calls for Maher's firing and ignited debate over who can say the N-word. We get reaction from NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates and "Dear White People" filmmaker Justin Simien; Brett Haley's new movie, “The Hero," looks at our admiration of cinematic heroes through the life of an aging actor whose public persona is defined by a role he played on screen.

Artist Jeff Koons has his detractors, but he is an undeniable force in contemporary art; blues veterans Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' have finally made an album together; George Pérez is the DC Comics writer and artist who revived "Wonder Woman" in the 1980s.

Between the White House Correspondents Dinner, his "Daily Show" gig and Netflix special, comedian Hasan Minjaj is having a good year; a playwriting workshop tries to help veterans re-connect with civilian life; Spotify settles a class action lawsuit that was filed by songwriters claiming they weren’t being properly compensated.

Sheila Nevins talks about how she navigated the workforce early in her career as assumptions about women were changing in America; Now that the DGA and WGA contracts are signed, it’s time for SAG-AFTRA to step to the negotiating table; Mexican-American singer Lila Downs has a new album that takes the romantic ballad genre known as bolero and pairs it with topical lyrics.

After a performance in blackface at an inaugural gala for President Ronald Reagan in 1981, Ben Vereen's career suffered. Artist Edgar Arceneaux has written an experimental play that explores the Broadway legend's intent; Vulture.com's Kyle Buchanan gives a recap on the most striking moments of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Reed Morano talks about being executive producer and director for the first three episodes of "The Handmaid's Tale"; Zoe Lister-Jones' directed "Band Aid" with marriage and music in mind.

Actor Jason Segel made his career in big studio comedies such as “Forgetting Susan Marshall," the TV sitcom, “How I Met Your Mother," and as author David Foster Wallace in the film “The End of the Tour,” which won him a lot of acclaim. Now he's taking that new image into his latest movie, the sci-fi love story “The Discovery,” which co-stars Rooney Mara and Robert Redford.

Jessica Williams was a correspondent on "The Daily Show" and now co-hosts the popular podcast, “2 Dope Queens." And this summer she can be seen in the Netflix movie, “The Incredible Jessica James"; movie theater owners are gathered in Las Vegas for CinemaCon. While movie studios preview their big 2017 releases, hovering over the party is the looming threat of streaming and video-on-demand.

The Wooster Group’s latest stage show, “The Town Hall Affair,” re-creates an infamous 1971 public debate about feminism moderated by – of all people – the chauvinistic writer Norman Mailer. Now on stage at the REDCAT in downtown Los Angeles, the show has resonance in an era when a presidential candidate can get away with ugly talk about women and millions of women took to the streets on the day after his inauguration.

Film producers Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn have made several small budget, character-driven movies together including “Albert Nobbs” with Glenn Close and “Last Days in the Desert” with Ewan McGregor. But "Life" is completely different. They talk with The Frame about managing a bigger budget –with special effects and zero gravity– and what makes their partnership work.

Caro's latest film is “The Zookeeper’s Wife," but her next project, the live-action version of “Mulan,” will make her only the 4th woman to have a budget over $100 million; The Writer’s Guild is negotiating its next contract, and there has been talk of a strike over wages for TV writers; children’s book author/illustrator Claire Keane worked with her Disney animator father on a story about Rapunzel that is being turned into a TV series.

"The Americans" creator Joe Weisberg and fellow showrunner Joel Fields talk about creating their 1980's Russian espionage show in the era of Russian hacking. The two are joined by director Chris Long– who shot some of the show in Moscow– to talk about creating a family drama that's also a secret agent story.

The 1991 Disney animated film "Beauty and the Beast," is considered by many to be a classic. But the man behind the lyrics of some of our favorite songs never got to see the final film. We put together this oral history/remembrance of his life and legacy; “Good Grief" is a new play by LA-based playwright Ngozi Anyanwu that can help people cope with their own losses; Drake’s new album "More Life” was the soundtrack to this past weekend. Literally.

Deborah Borda is leaving her post as CEO of the L.A. Philharmonic to run the N.Y. Philharmonic; filmmaker Taylor Hackford recalls making his 1987 documentary about Chuck Berry; Discostan is a monthly club night that features Middle Eastern music.

A new Japanese American National Museum (JANM) exhibit remembers the dark history of legalized discrimination in the US. Classical music composer Julia Adolphe is a rising star with a new work at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Director Sydney Freeland discusses her coming-of-age movie "Deidra & Laney Rob a Train."

What does President Trump's budget proposal to eliminate the NEA, NEH and CPB actually mean? New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz finds hope in the political messages and diverse voices at the Whitney Biennal. And director Ferne Pearlstein and Holocaust survivor Renee Firestone discuss the new documentary "The Last Laugh."

LA Phil chief Deborah Borda will depart to head the NY philharmonic. She leaves behind a flourishing institution, a happy orchestra, and a charismatic artistic director. Documentarian Marina Zenovich tries to uncover who owns California's water supply in "Water & Power: A California Heist." And filmmaker Ritesh Batra goes from "The Lunchbox" to "The Sense of an Ending."

Misha Green, co-creator of the WGN series "Underground," talks about how characters like Harriet Tubman are real-life superheroes and how she's sometimes mistaken for an assistant on set; Goldenvoice—the promoters behind Coachella, Stagecoach and Desert Trip—bring their latest fest to Pasadena, called Arroyo Seco Weekend.