The Frame

Zoe Lister-Smith directed “Band Aid,” a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival that just got picked up for distribution; Fox's new “24” reboot is being criticized because the villains on the series are from the Middle East; Andrew Lockington talks about his untraditional score for the new movie, “The Space Between Us.”

For bands, landing a song in a Super Bowl ad (or any other televised event) is a HUGE pay day; how 'Jackie' composer Mica Levi created a mesmerizing score for Pablo Larrain's psychological drama; Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck could have made a conventional documentary about James Baldwin, but instead he uses only Baldwin’s words to create his powerful film, “I Am Not Your Negro."

The madcap "Billy on the Street" TV series has added a political edge; arts leaders from Western states visit D.C. to advocate for the National Endowment for the Arts; the latest Hollywood story from USC has more dire news for women in the industry.

Muslim-American writer, producer and author Reza Aslan's family fled the Iranian Revolution when he was 7-years-old — now believes that the best way to change American hearts and minds about Islam is through entertainment; Sony Pictures is reporting a $1 billion loss in its third quarter alone. The report comes as the company embarks on a new head for the studio, which executives in Japan maintain is not for sale.

How SAG Award winners used the platform to comment on Trump's executive order barring refugees from select Muslim-majority countries; one L.A.-based concert promoter had to cancel shows with Iranian musicians planning to play in the U.S.; "Cries from Syria" filmmaker wants to generate understanding and empathy for Syrian refugees with his new doc, airing on HBO in March.

"Nobody Speak" looks at free press issues through the Hulk Hogan lawsuit and the presidential election; "The Salesman" is the latest from Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi; the Wallis Youth Theater Company is breaking new ground.

How Late Night host Seth Meyers is seizing the Trump era for political commentary and comedy; rapper Roxanne Shanté's life is the basis of a new Sundance biopic "Roxanne Roxanne;" Bryan Fogel is a cyclist who set out to document his experiments with performance-enhancing drugs only to find himself making a movie that uncovers a massive doping scandal inside Russia.

Director David O. Russell remembers working with Mary Tyler Moore in his 1996 dysfunctional family comedy "Flirting with Disaster," then the married couple Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon turned their real-life love story into the new romantic comedy "The Big Sick" which just sold to Amazon at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Frame host John Horn reports from Sundance where he interviews Lakeith Stanfield (“Atlanta” and "Crown Heights"), and talks Oscars nominations with Vulture's Kyle Buchanan.

The Frame host John Horn reports from Sundance where he interviews Jessica Williams (“The Incredible Jessica James”), and documentary director Peter Bratt ("Dolores") and the subject of his film, activist Dolores Huerta.

California's film and TV industries are happily anticipating the state's expanded program to help keep production in-state; NBC will make all 13 episodes of "Aquarius" available online when the series debuts; Josh Gad (at left, with Billy Crystal) hopes "The Comedians" will improve his track record with TV projects.

At a presentation for advertisers, Hulu announces a new "Walking Dead" spinoff and an Amy Poehler project; Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa left Australia to join the band; Brett Morgen was given free rein in directing the documentary, "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" (pictured).

Hollywood actors, and one prominent producer, are largely bypassed in the Tony nominations; artist William Pope.L has his iconoclastic vision on display at MOCA (pictured); comedian Paul F. Tompkins isn't quite the King of All Media, but he's getting close; "The Wire" creator David Simon has good reason to care about Baltimore.

Documentarian Phelim MacLeer on his controversial play "Ferguson," a work of verbatim theater comprised entirely of excerpts from testimony in the Michael Brown case; Costume designer Lisa Padovani on mashing up influences for her work on "Gotham"; French artist Vincent Lamouroux's piece "Projection" covers an abandoned Silver Lake motel and it's palm trees with lime wash.

Summer movie preview of those films we shouldn't miss. Could Cuba's massive Biennial become a global center for art? The rise of the Asian American youtube star. And, as the latest sequel is set to pass $1 billion overseas, the "Fast and Furious" franchise adds number 8.

Hollywood studios continue to preview their 2015 slates at CinemaCon, the splashy convention for theater owners; Song Exploder dissects a new song by My Morning Jacket; photographer Ken Gonzales-Day draws parallels between the history of lynching and recent fatal shootings by police (pictured).

By the end of 2015, movie concession stands will have to divulge how many calories there are in your favorite snacks; Phox talks about the unglamorous life of a touring band; ‘Happyish’ creator Shalom Auslander (at right, with Bradley Whitford) on how the show handled the death of original lead actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The annual convention for film studios and movie theater owners gets underway in Las Vegas; a group of Latino musicians have put together a tribute to Morrissey (pictured) and The Smiths; David Rubin and Lora Kennedy discuss being a casting director in today’s film business.

The band Tame Impala teases Coachella audience with its next album (pictured: Kevin Parker); some L.A. stage actors say working in small theaters for next to nothing can actually help their careers; John Fithian, president of the movie theater trade association, has a strategy to boost slumping business.

With Verizon offering a pseudo a la carte TV model, is cable as we know it becoming a thing of the past?; L.A. Opera's production of "Hercules vs. Vampires" (pictured) blends a campy sword-and-sandal film with high art; Kyle Kinane admits the absurdity of his job as a stand-up comic.

A second trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was unveiled today; "Dolphin's of Hollywood" (pictured) was a groundbreaking record store that opened in 1948, and its story is now the subject of a stage musical; how DJ and producer Mark Ronson ended up working with Stevie Wonder and author Michael Chabon.

Could the Santa Monica Museum of Art be leaving Santa Monica?; “Unfriended” producers Jason Blum and Couper Samuelson on the challenge of making a film thriller that plays out in real time on a laptop; the duo behind the band Sylvan Esso (pictured), currently playing Coachella, talk about the grind of being on tour.