The Frame

To mark the 25th anniversary of the LA Riots, actor-writer Roger Guenveur Smith's fiery solo show “Rodney King” has been turned into a Spike Lee film in which Smith places the beating of King in a broader social context. How did the 2007 writers strike affect the wider economy of LA and California and who would be affected if they strike again? The Fyre Festival is a fiasco.

Filmmaker (and self-professed troublemaker) John Waters spits some wisdom about living life by your terms and offers his advice for young people in his new book, "Make Trouble"; A look at the women of the real and the fictional 'Silicon Valley'; Summer blockbusters hitting theaters sooner and sooner and what actually defines a summer movie is rapidly changing.

Jodie Foster and Tom Hanks share memories of filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who died at the age of 73; executive producer/director Reed Morano talks about adapting Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" for television.

The unsolved JonBenet Ramsey murder became the focal point of a documentary that looks at the making of a film about the case; 50 years ago, the Sunset Strip became an outdoor gallery of billboards that promoted new albums; The Writers Guild was formed in 1921 as a social group.

How filmmaker J.D. Dillard went from receptionist to directing and co-writing the Sundance feature "Sleight." Why disputes over the Armenian genocide have plagued two recently released films including "The Promise." And Actress Vera Farmiga and Kerry Ehrin, co-creator of "Bates Motel," say goodbye to their beloved character, Norma Bates.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" gets a reboot with comedian Jonah Ray taking over as host. Ray tells The Frame that to make fun of bad movies they actually have to be kind of good; We unpack the religious themes in Kendrick Lamar's new album "Damn"; Art studios and CalArts students pitch their creative ideas "Shark Tank" style.

The Oscar-winning screenwriter makes a documentary about the L.A. riots, 25 years after they happened; two powerhouse theater companies – one in L.A. and one in N.Y. – join forces to take new plays to Broadway; and a Mexican movie theater chain beckons families with an in-theater playground.

As Aloy in "Horizon Zero Dawn," actress Ashly Burch gets to be more than "just a gun with legs"; members of the Writers Guild of America are in the process of taking a strike authorization vote.

When the film's original director dropped out, longtime producer Denise Di Novi decided to take a turn in the director's chair; non-commercial stations that sold some of their broadcast bandwidth are cashing in with tens of millions of dollars.

'Veep' has returned for a new season and Matt Walsh, who plays Mike McClintock, tells The Frame how the show dovetails and collides with reality. On a Song Exploder segment Damon Albarn break down a tune from a new Gorillaz album. In a Coachella recap we hear what happened with Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Radiohead.

The FX series "Trust" explores the characters and circumstances surrounding the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III. Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy who won Oscars for "Slumdog Millionaire" re-team for their first American TV series.

"On the Exhale" is a play that's told from the perspective of a mother whose child was a victim at Sandy Hook Elementary; "Roxanne, Roxanne" charts the unlikely rise of rapper Roxanne Shonte; incentivizing diversity in the state’s film & TV tax credit program could help change the industry’s biased hiring practices.

In his new HBO series, Hader plays an assassin who doesn’t find his career totally satisfying. When he accidentally walks into an acting class, a whole new world opens up for him.

Actress Lola Kirke talks about her new noir thriller, which is set in Los Angeles; in The Actors' Gang's "The New Colossus," the audience votes on which characters should be allowed to stay in the U.S.; The Weinstein Co. releases employees from the non-disclosure agreements that kept them silent.

"Wild Wild Country" tells the story of an Indian guru who in the 1980s tried to transform an Oregon town into a massive utopia of enlightenment. But friction and violence ensued; "Rise" revolves around a group of high school drama kids in a struggling, working-class Pennsylvania town.

In “Sell/Buy/Date," playwright and performer Sarah Jones explores empowerment, sex and culture by inhabiting a variety of characters; the film and TV industries are undergoing a reckoning with #MeToo, but the music business has certain barriers that have kept women silent.

Filmmaker Rebecca Miller takes on a tough documentary subject: her iconic playwright father; Merrill Garbus addresses cultural appropriation on Tune-Yards' new album; Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" hits a legal roadblock from the estate of author Harper Lee.

Playwright Lauren Yee play is inspired by Cambodian psychedelic rock of the '70s, before Pol Pot singled out the nation’s artists; CherryPicks will aggregate movie, music and video game reviews from female critics; Ludwig Göransson dissects a song from his score for "Black Panther."

Taylor Mac is the theater artist, drag performer, MacArthur fellow and creative mind behind a 24-hour-long retelling of American history through popular songs; was James Levine allowed to remain in power at the Metropolitan Opera because of "maestro worship"?

Boots Riley of the hip-hop group The Coup talks about his directing debut, "Sorry To Bother You" – a satire about race in America; “High Maintenance” co-creator Katja Blichfeld says she and fellow co-creator Ben Sinclair kept the show intact despite their breakup; the massive SxSW tech, film and music fest is underway in Austin.

"A Wrinkle In Time" author Madeleine L'Engle mixed spirituality and science in her controversial book, now it's a big Disney movie; filmmaker Alma Har'el challenges the advertising business to hire more women to direct commercials; Spotify promises to expand your musical choices, but does it?

Hiro Murai had only directed music videos when Donald Glover tapped him to direct "Atlanta"; Amy Adrion's documentary, "Half the Picture," takes an empowering view of women in filmmaking; Tom Brosseau's latest album is titled "Treasures Untold."