The Frame

Alison Bechdel says she thought the idea of having her graphic novel memoir turned into a musical was "insane"; composer John Adams says his landmark opera, "Nixon in China," is as timely as ever; NBC has invested $500 million in Snapchat with big plans for using the social media platform.

Bruna Papandrea has produced hit films such as "Wild" and "Gone Girl," and now she's part of the team behind HBO's "Big Little Lies"; Netflix has a new reality competition series that's being produced for six global markets simultaneously.

C-SPAN anchor Steve Scully (aka "the most patient man on television") talks with The Frame about C-SPAN's origin story, its mission and the role it fills in today's media landscape; Then, actress Jane Kaczmarek explains why she's spending her post "Malcolm In the Middle" years doing theater like Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

When Asghar Farhadi won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, he did not pick up his statue in person. But he was in L.A. last year following our election and he spoke with us about his movie, "The Salesman," and then-President elect Trump; R&B producer and musician Raphael Saadiq has branched out to scoring movies and TV shows.

Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black created the ABC miniseries, "When We Rise," to bring the history of the gay rights movement into America's living rooms in the hopes of bridging a divided nation and inspiring activism in a new generation; The Oscars are finally over. What must Hollywood do to become more inclusive?

On this year's Frame Oscar preview, get to know some nominees ahead of the big night. Among the guests are the writer/directors of "La La Land" and "Moonlight," actors Ruth Negga, Emma Stone, Dev Patel, and Andrew Garfield; Documentary filmmakers Ava Duvernay and Ezra Edelman; the screenwriters for "Hidden Figures" and "The Lobster," and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. Plus, John Horn and his co-host in The Awards Show Show podcast, Kyle Buchanan, make predictions.

Comedian and art collector Cheech Marin walks the galleries of Frank Romero's retrospective with the artist himself; "Hacksaw Ridge" sound mixer Kevin O'Connell has 21 Oscar nominations but no win ... yet; political and topical ads are likely during the Academy Awards. Who's advertising and how are they hoping to benefit?

Melanie Lynskey felt a deep connection with her character in the Sundance hit, "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore"; a federal judge issues an injunction against a law that prevented websites such as IMDb from publishing the birthdate of actors.

Jordan Peele (of "Key & Peele" fame) makes his film directing debut with the horror movie, “Get Out," which takes on racism in the creepiest fashion; John Horn debates how to improve the Academy Awards broadcast with his "Awards Show Show" podcast co-host, Kyle Buchanan, and TV mavens Alex Jung and Jen Chaney.

The Oscar-nominated movie "Lion" is based on the memoir of Saroo Brierly, whose unbelievable life story was turned into a two-hour film by screenwriter Luke Davies; an annual report on diversity in Hollywood makes a strong case that on-camera diversity is directly linked to box office and ratings success; the WGA honored the screenwriters of "Moonlight" and "Arrival."

Comedians Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher join discuss their Seeso comedy series "Take My Wife," and what they hope happens to the show now that NBC is shutting Seeso down; musicians Jimmy Hendrix, Link Wray and Robbie Robertson are all part American Indian. They're featured in a new documentary about the contributions of Native Americans to pop music called "Rumble," co-directed by Alfonso Maiorana.

Gregg Allman's manager, Michael Lehman, and the late musician's youngest daughter, Layla, reveal how he confronted life and death at the end; "Master of None" music supervisor Zach Cowie may be new to the field, but his history in the record business, and as a DJ, prepped him well for the work.

Character actress Ann Dowd gets some Emmy love for her complicated roles on "The Leftovers" and "The Handmaids' Tale"; The National Latino Media Council has embarked on a campaign to pressure the four major broadcast TV networks into hiring more Latinos; Don McLeod uses his training in mime for a career as a living statue.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro canceled a U.S. tour by that nation's youth orchestra in response to criticism from L.A. Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel; most Americans have likely never encountered a trans person, aside from maybe on TV. We hear from three people who talk about what goes into telling authentic stories of trans people in Hollywood.

The late L.A. artist Carlos Almaráz is the subject of a new exhibition at the L.A. County Museum of Art; filmmaker Gregory Monro spotlights Jerry Lewis' directing career in "The Man Behind the Clown;" playwright Gretchen Law remembers comedian and activist Dick Gregory, the subject of her play, "Turn Me Loose."

First-time director Geremy Jasper drew from his musical past to make "Patti Cake$," the story of an overweight, white female rapper; the film 'La La Land' gets a drag parody that's so bad it's good; summer box office numbers are down 12 percent from last year. What's keeping fans away from the multiplex?

Spotify takes down some white supremacist music; Disney Jr. show "Doc McStuffins" draws praise and some criticism for a recent episode that includes a family with same-sex parents; “Gook,” a new film written, directed by and starring Justin Chon, revisits the 1992 L.A. riots from the perspective of Korean Americans.

Apple plans to spend $1 billion on original content to rival streaming services; "Lemon" filmmakers Janicza Bravo and Brett Gelman channel their own anxieties into an uncomfortable comedy; Adam Langdon plays a character with an unspecified disorder in the stage adaptation of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."

What goes into playing Jaime Lannister on "Game of Thrones?" Where did Nikolaj Coster-Waldau find the time to make the new movie "Shot Caller?" The Danish actor opens up about all this and more; investigations are underway in Vancouver where a fatal stunt occurred Monday on the set of “Deadpool 2.”

Producer Will Packer has several hit movies under his belt, and now he has the provocative TV series, "Black America," in the works at Amazon; Shonda Rhimes' move is a major development in the networks’ ongoing struggle with the aggressive streaming services.

Choreographer Kenny Ortega talks about his long-time love of musicals and his dream to make a musical about a gay teenager who comes out; Soundcloud was on the brink of shutting down until new investors surfaced; in "Morningside 5," filmmaker Mike Tollin revisits the subjects of "Hardwood Dreams," his film about high school NBA hopefuls.

In part 2 of our chat Steven Soderbergh, he talks about why "Logan Lucky" was the movie to bring him back to filmmaking. Then, we go behind the scenes at the Hollywood Bowl to find out what exactly goes into making that music sound so good out there, and with the TCA press tour over we find out what's to be learned about the state of the TV business.