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.

Joe Weisberg and Joel Field, writers and executive producers for "The Americans," talk about the joy and surprise at getting the nominations that long eluded the show; Emmy-nominated hairstylist Amanda Mofield shares her secrets for creating hundreds of looks for "Key & Peele;" "Ghostbusters" screenwriter Katie Dippold defends her movie against critics.

Neil Druckmann is a writer and creative director who has won acclaim for his cinematic approach to video games such as "The Last of Us" and "Uncharted 4"; Eric Glatt was a lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against Fox Searchlight after working as an unpaid intern on "The Black Swan." The case has settled, but his mission to challenge what he calls "wage theft" continues.

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.