The Frame

The Oscar-winning rapper, actor and producer talks about the importance of artists using their passions to bring about social change; music streaming is no longer the future of the industry, it is the industry.

A new documentary web series, "The Secret Lives of Muslims," aims for true and often humorous portrayals of American Muslims; Shane Smith says Vice is just like other big media companies, just "weirder" and "younger."

Writer-director Damien Chazelle talks about directing Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in his musical love letter to L.A.; Beyoncé leads the pack with nine nominations as hip-hop, rap and R&B dominate the Grammy list; an annual holiday musical at the Falcon Theatre adapts pop music into Christmas carols.

After Nick Cave's son died in a tragic accident, he asked filmmaker Andrew Dominik to document the recording of his next album. The result: the haunting documentary, “One More Time With Feeling"; Emilie Friedlander of Vice Media says the fire-ravaged warehouse in Oakland that was home to artists is not a rarity; Sandra Bernhard on blending comedy, music and commentary in her new cabaret-style stage show.

Pharrell Williams is mainly known for his music career, but he's branched out into producing films and his latest is "Hidden Figures"; China’s increasing involvement in Hollywood is an issue both Democrats and Republicans actually agree on; The Secret City is a theater experience that's part cabaret, part joyful tent revival, and all about worshipping art;

Actress Emma Stone sings, tap dances and floats among the stars in the new movie musical, “La La Land"; film critics are making their best-of-the-year picks. But who are these critics and how do their biases play a role?; one movie poster artist has played a big role in pop culture — and many people consider his posters not ads, but art.

Actress Isabelle Huppert and writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve talk about their film, "Things To Come," about a middle-aged philosophy teacher who's forced to reconsider her life; we talk with filmmakers Jeff Orlowski ("Chasing Coral") and Marina Zenovich ("Water & Power") about their climate change docs screening at the Sundance Film Festival.

Alena Smith’s new play, “Icebergs,” tackles climate change, infertility, hate crimes, sexism and divorce — and it’s a comedy; actress Zooey Deschanel and singer/songwriter M. Ward, aka She & Him, have a new Christmas album; with critically-acclaimed films such as "Moonlight" and "Loving," the next Oscar nominations should be more diverse than in recent years.

Natalie Portman talks about playing Jacqueline Kennedy in "Jackie," which follows her in the days and weeks following the assassination of JFK; now that Fidel Castro is dead, how might things change for Cuba's artists?; Leo Matsuda's "Inner Workings" is a short animated Disney film that is screening with "Moana."

Actress Jenny Slate and her father talk about their book of stories inspired by their family life in Massachusetts; we break down the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards; in the 1940s, a Silicon Valley start-up came up with an invention that revolutionized pop music.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes changes to its board in an effort to diversify. We talk with two members of the Academy about what's to come. Then composer Laura Karpman talks about her Grammy-winning composition "Ask Your Mama" and how she's working to get more women into the scoring stage.

Producer Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club, The People v. Larry Flynt) was among the Asian American professionals in Hollywood who sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences protesting offensive jokes told at the Oscars. Touring LACMA'S Mapplethorpe exhibit and finding unexpected art. We meet a young African American filmmaker undeterred by Hollywood's diversity problem.

Robert Mapplethorpe gets a massive retrospective at two L.A. museums courtesy of the Mapplethorpe Foundation. Can a set top box that streams first run films the day they're in theaters disrupt the movie business as we know it? Closing the gender gap one women artist at a time.

The massive Hauser Wirth & Schimmel gallery is the newest addition to L.A.'s bustling downtown arts district; singer and bass player Esperanza Spalding adds some theatrical touches to her live show; the South by Southwest film festival kicks off today in Austin.

Actress Ellen Page and Ian Daniel are co-hosts of a new Viceland channel show that documents LGBTQ communities around the world; a Marine's experience in Iraq is dramatized by the adventurous Long Beach Opera.

Actress Sarah Paulson is getting rave reviews for her performance as prosecutor Marcia Clark in "The People v. O.J. Simpson"; the music collective known as Dublab partnered with Metro to create an ambient music experience at L.A.'s Union Station.

Writer-producer Terence Winter creates an HBO drama out of the 1970's music business in "Vinyl"; SNL alumnus Seth Meyers injects politics into his "Late Night" humor; Swedish-Argentine musician José González redefines "global music."

Nahnatchka Khan's experience as a daughter of immigrants helped shape the outsider perspective of "Fresh Off the Boat"; the box office success of "Zootopia" is due to Disney's embrace of Pixar's ethic; KT Tunstall deconstructs the song that launched her career, "Suddenly I See."

David Litt was President Obama's funniest speechwriter and now he's mining Washington for Funny or Die; Robert Carlock talks about adapting "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" for his longtime writing partner, Tina Fey; Kendrick Lamar drops a surprise album.

Series creator Beau Willimon tees up the fourth season of "House of Cards" on Netflix; the trailer for the remake of "Ghostbusters" depicts a very different New York City; Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe readies the West Coast premiere of her oratorio.

Over the past 25 years, Jon Brion has quietly become a go-to producer and composer for musicians and filmmakers; L.A. County tightens the rules for raves on public property; the Colburn School teaches its students how to audition for orchestra jobs.

Roger Guenveur Smith on directing "The Mountaintop," a play set in a Memphis motel on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination; criticism mounts over Chris Rock's treatment of diversity and Asian-Americans; high school students perform August Wilson monologues.