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."

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.