The Frame

Rankine, whose poetry has examined everyday racism in America, and Wolfe, whose music addresses issues of the American worker, were both named MacArthur Foundation fellows; as the Fall TV season launches, we visit with producer Betsy Beers at Shondaland, one of the most successful companies in the industry.

Diavolo Dance Theatre is reinventing modern dance by combing architecture and wildly physical choreography; media critics have been piling on NBC for going soft on the GOP nominee, and now late night host Samantha Bee has joined the fray; Richard Nelson keeps his election-themed plays current by writing until the last minute.

The new documentary, “The Lovers and the Despot,” tells the true story of what happened in 1978 when Kim Jong-il ordered the kidnapping of a filmmaking couple from South Korea to jumpstart North Korea's movie industry; William Bell has revived the classic Stax sound; a new report shows that the music business is actually making money in the streaming age.

Playwright and performer Lucy Alibar draws on her Southern childhood for “Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up"; Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, who won a writing Emmy for "Master of None," talk about their approach to diversity; the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off a lot of Academy Award talk.

Kent McCord of the 1960-70s TV cop show, "Adam-12," which was produced in partnership with the LAPD. McCord says a show about cops who aren't "edgy" wouldn't sell in today's TV business; In advance of TV's big awards night, we discuss what goes into an Emmy campaign, and how valuable is a nomination or a win in this era of "too much TV"?

Cheo Hodari Coker, creator and showrunner of the Netflix series "Luke Cage," unpacks the idea of building a show around a superhero who also happens to be a "bullet-proof black man" in a hoodie; Can Pandora and Amazon be the next disruptors in the streaming music space? They hope so.

The documentary "Audrie & Daisy" examines the sexual assault and cyber-shaming of two teen girls; with its third album, the band Local Natives remains entrenched in Silver Lake's indie rock scene; a group of songwriters is challenging the Dept. of Justice's control over royalty rates.

How do unconscious biases affect hiring practices in Hollywood? To dig deeper into this issue, Cathy Schulman (Oscar-winning producer/Women In Film) and Judith Williams (Global Head of Diversity at Dropbox) put Frame host John Horn to the test as if he's a studio executive; In 2005 Jackie Lopez co-founded the hip hop troupe "Versa Style" to teach kids not only how to dance but the cultural history behind hip hop.

"Kicks" filmmakers discuss how being outsiders who didn't fit society's views of manhood fueled the making of their lyrical coming-of-age drama; A new documentary explores why Brad Bird's 1999 animated film "The Iron Giant" was a critical darling, but a box office bomb; Inside Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" press conference at TIFF; Can you scream like Nicholas Cage?

Every August, cultural festivals take over the Scottish city of Edinburgh with thousands of performances taking place day and night. This year The Frame host John Horn immersed himself in shows and brings an audio postcard of his creative excursion; TV reporter Whitney Friedlander joins us to preview some new and returning television shows that are worthy of our time and DVR space this fall.

"Saturday Church" is a coming-of-age film inspired by LGBTQ teens who Cardasis met at his mother's church; Sundance organizers are taking steps to protect festival attendees from inappropriate behavior; Ruby Ibarra draws from her Filipino-American roots.

When Laurie Metcalf agreed to “Lady Bird,” she had no idea the film would become so popular; James Franco is the latest Hollywood figure to face accusations of improper behavior; Johnny Cash's landmark show at Folsom Prison included a fateful meeting with an inmate.

Greta Gerwig, Jordan Peele, Guillermo del Toro and Christopher Nolan are among the nominees for the Directors Guild Awards, which often predict the Oscars; then Mark Mangini and Theo Green created the soundscape for the "Blade Runner" sequel.

Writer/producer Kenya Barris just launched “grown-ish,” a spinoff of “black-ish” that centers around that show’s oldest child; Linda Perhacs left her music career behind when her 1970 debut album failed to catch on with audiences. Now her career is revived, with two new albums in the past few years.

"Foxtrot" director Samuel Maoz's film is about the cycle of trauma that he says permeates Israeli society; does awards campaigning seem a little trivial in the age of “Time’s Up”?; beat maker Tokimonsta talks about incorporating traditional sounds from her Korean heritage into her decidedly hip music.

Nicole Kidman ("Big Little Lies") was one of the Golden Globe winners who thanked dialect coach Liz Himelstein from the stage; men's voices were noticeably silent from the #MeToo chorus at the Globes; John Horn reports from the Palm Springs fest where foreign films rule.

Musician and composer Jon Brion's latest challenge was writing the score to Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird"; TV producers and network chiefs are touting their shows for the new year; artists respond to the first year of the Trump presidency in a show at Glendale's Brand Library.

The Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena reopens with a show that examines how Mexican artists influenced their Chinese counterparts; researchers from FiveThirtyEight have new ways to examine the representation of women in movies; Alex Heffes scored a day in the life of the planet for a BBC documentary.

Mark Bridges created the gorgeous '50s-era dresses in Paul Thomas Anderson's film about an exacting fashion designer; Ava DuVernay is one of the prominent filmmakers involved with the "Time's Up" initiative; artist Zachary Aronson uses fire to create his work.

Barbara Broccoli has worked for 22 years to make "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool"; prominent women in Hollywood launch an anti-harassment initiative; a big music publishing company sued Spotify for $1.6 billion.

Errol Morris' documentary miniseries examines the mysterious death of a government biochemist who was given LSD by the CIA; Kira Kelly is a Hollywood rarity: an African-American female cinematographer. She got an Emmy nomination for shooting Ava DuVernay's documentary, "13th," which led to her working on the filmmaker's drama series, "Queen Sugar."

The filmmaker says the roots of his latest movie, "The Shape of Water," go back to his childhood when he saw "Creature from the Black Lagoon."