The Frame

Singer/songwriter Perla Batalla and playwright Oliver Mayer are collaborating on a new project about the iconic Mexican artist; California Light and Space artist Robert Irwin debuts a new work in West Texas; artists are going public with work at the Republican National Convention.

Betty Buckley offers a feminist take on Edie Bouvier in the musical "Grey Gardens," adapted from the Maysles brothers documentary of the same name; musician Rubén Guevera recounts a life in rock and roll; movie marketing in a time when real violence is all too prevalent.

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.

Writer-director David Lowery had a tiny budget for "A Ghost Story," but he managed to attract Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara to the cast; Errol Morris is known for his serious documentaries, but he switches gears with The B-Side," a profile of photographer Elsa Dorfman.

Jay-Z's new album, "4:44," may be a hit, but the business model behind his music streaming service Tidal is in question; Two leaders of Outfest — the Los Angeles LGBT film festival — discuss how far has event has come and the history of queer cinema in Hollywood; How the New York Times became an outlet for documentary filmmakers.

Comedian Hasan Minhaj is doing more with his stand-up act than just making people laugh. He’s representing a vision of America. With the release of the album "The Hamilton Instrumentals," super fans like the people behind Hamiltunes LA get their wish. And keyboardist Benmont Tench, plays his ode to LA in the backseat of a car.

Two music supervisors who work on TV shows like "Fargo" and "Breaking Bad" say they love what they do but they discourage others from going into the field. And 50 years later, a new book looks at the legacy of the Summer of Love.

This year, the Emmy Awards will finally recognize music supervision. In the first of a two-part interview, John Horn chats with Maggie Phillips (“Fargo”) and Thomas Golubic (“Breaking Bad”) about their work; Andrew Jay Cohen makes the leap from writing to directing with “The House,” a comedy starring Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler.

“The Big Sick” tells the true story of how comedian Kumail Nanjiani and writer Emily V. Gordon became a couple; The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited a record 744 actors, writers, directors and other movie industry workers; Ginnifer Goodwin and Allen Leech star in “Constellations," a play that combines a love story with physics.

Writer-director Jeff Baena turned a series of 14th-Century novellas set in a convent into a bawdy sex comedy; The Kronos Quartet is expanding the repertoire of contemporary music for string quartets; American movie studios benefit from taking on Chinese partners.

Paul Dano stars in “Okja,” the story of a seemingly benevolent conglomerate working to help feed the world through genetically modified animals. Dano speaks about the issues raised in the film, and about working with director Bong Joon-Ho; The Arroyo Seco Weekend attracted about 24,000 people for each day of the two-day music festival on the grounds of the Rose Bowl. Two L.A. Times music writers have different takes.

Broken Social Scene wants to make music memories. They talk about their love of festivals and bringing music "to the people." And Pasadena City Councilmember Steve Madison says why he wanted to bring music to his city with the Arroyo Seco Weekend. And where are all the film scoring jobs going these days? Two people in the industry tell us why California needs to include film scoring in its production incentive program.

Coal magnate sues John Oliver for defamation just days have the HBO host's scathing "Last Week Tonight" segment. The tumultuous love story of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is now a bilingual opera called "Frida." And two of the lead actors in the play "The Pride" open up about the personal and political reasons they wanted to tell this story of gay men in love.

Kulap Vilaysack discusses her Seeso reality TV spoof “Bajillion Dollar Propertie$” and the documentary she's making about the search to find her biological father. Variety's Brent Lang reports on why and how the directors of the Han Solo spinoff movie were fired. And The Frame contributor Tim Grieving visits with the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet at Walt Disney Concert Hall to hear how they're reinventing what percussion is and could be.

'Time: The Kalief Browder story' recounts the tragic life and death of a teenager who was held a Rikers Island for years without being tried of a crime. The series' writer-director Jenner Furst puts his story into a larger context. Was Gal Gadot underpaid for starring in the smash hit “Wonder Woman?” The internet thinks so. Vulture's Kyle Buchanan helps us sort fact from fiction. Common Sense Media which rates movies and TV shows for language, violence, sex and drug use now assesses for gender stereotypes.