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."

Fox Searchlight invested a lot in "The Birth of a Nation," but now an old rape case against filmmaker Nate Parker has re-surfaced; Laika Studios CEO Travis Knight makes his directing debut with "Kubo"; pianist and composer Manuel Lima is spending 10 days inside a cube on the Sunset Strip.

The acclaimed cellist's interests in world music and education cross paths in The Silk Road Ensemble; a former policeman who's appeared multiple times on "COPS" says scripted TV has created unreasonable expectations for officers.

We continue our series on how police are depicted on TV with the creators of “COPS,” the longest-running reality show in TV history. Creator John Langley tells us about the show’s genesis and why it continues to be so popular; the Latino Comics Expo is unofficially known as the “Latino Comic-Con"; Comedy Central says Larry Wilmore's show failed to gain traction with viewers.

From refugee athletes to individual profiles, Olympics mini-docs are a big part of the broadcast and have been since the 1970s. NBC Sports' Jimmy Roberts joins us from Rio where he's reporting on his 16th Olympics; Part 2 of our look inside the Sundance Directors Lab, where eight budding filmmakers are encouraged to take risks and seize the opportunity of a lifetime.

We visit the Sundance Director's Lab where Robert Redford and a group of industry pros mentor up and coming filmmakers. Variety's chief TV critic Maureen Ryan breaks down the CBS news coming out of the Television Critics Association press tour; Colburn Conservatory of Music graduates endure stressful mock auditions to prepare for the real thing.

Actress Taraji P. Henson opens up about the career path that led her to her Emmy-nominated role of Cookie Lyon on the hit Fox show, "Empire"; amid the bad reviews for "Suicide Squad," we look at the unsustainable — but enduring — Hollywood business model of taking big swings at expensive movies in hopes of finding a franchise.

In our #CopsOnTV series, writer-producer Cheo Hodari Coker reveals what he learned about the LAPD while producing the police drama, "Southland," and how that connected with his experiences as a black man; the bad news/good news of NBC's Olympic ecosystem: broadcast viewership is down, but online streaming is booming.

In the first of a continuing series of conversations, former "Law & Order: SVU" executive producer Neal Baer says studios and networks want police to be depicted as heroes; how soon will virtual reality become a big thing in entertainment?

Stuntwoman and "American Ninja Warrior" contestant Jessie Graff teaches host John Horn some tricks of her trade; the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics has become a job for film directors; Aubrey Plaza's amateur basketball team, the Pistol Shrimps, has quite the following.

The comic actress' star-turn in "Ghostbusters" and another Emmy nod for "SNL" have her primed for bigger things; fans of the kids' show 'Doc McStuffins' are worried about the future of one of the few kids' shows with a black lead character; DanceSafe provides education and and even drug-testing at raves, but its hands are tied by a federal law.

Artist and animator Jorge Gutiérrez discusses the creative inspirations of the U.S.-Mexico border and the painting spree that led to his gallery show; HBO, Netflix and NBC face the press at the Television Critics Association; screenwriter, producer and former studio chief James Schamus makes his directorial debut with "Indignation."

Director Marc Osborne didn't want to make a straight-ahead adaptation of "The Little Prince," so he came up with a novel approach; "Equity" is the rare movie about Wall Street that stars and is made by women; Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, dissects her song, “Kill V. Maim.”