Tanya Wexler, the director of “Hysteria,” takes on the history of the vibrator -- yeah, that vibrator -- in her new film, which opens on Friday. "Hysteria" stars Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal as, respectively, a doctor inventing the vibrator and a young feminist finding her way to self-expression.

Coming from a show-business family – the niece of famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler and the half-sister of Daryl Hannah – Wexler has the fearlessness of a busker, along with four kids and a partner-wife. She wanted to tell a light comedy, she says in a chat with Sharon Waxman.

SW: What made you want to make a romantic comedy about the invention of...

Robert Scheer, editor-in-chief of Truthdig.com and a senior fellow at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, joined me to debate President Obama’s new support for same-sex marriage.

I asked whether Obama’s move was timed to energize his Hollywood supporters, who gathered at George Clooney's house on Thursday for a fundraiser.

Also read: President Obama Snags Record $15M At Star-Studded Clooney Fundraiser Movies

Bob thinks so: “What Obama has captured is the modern center. He is the adult in the room,” he says. “Romney cannot move to the middle. Richad Nixon would seem like a pinko to many in that base.”

Meanwhile, I asked whether Hollywood liberals just care about...

Cassian Elwes left one of the independent film world’s most prominent roles in 2009, running the indie financing department at William Morris. His new career as an independent producer has helped bring films like “Margin Call” to theaters, and in January he took on the role of partner at Evolution with Mark Burg. Two films he executive produced have been chosen to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, John Hillcoat’s “Lawless” and Lee Daniels’ “Paperboy.”

In his first full-length interview since leaving William Morris, Elwes is grilled by TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman on the state of film financing, the William Morris-Endeavor merger and how he lost –  and re-found – his passion for making movies.

“I was totally burned out,” he tells TheWrap. “The whole experience of the merger...

Mel Karmazin is worried about Google.

At a panel discussion about business models for entertainment, the CEO of Sirius XM Radio raised the prospect of the search giant entering the satellite radio space and deficit-funding a chunk of market share.

“We worry someone will come along with no subscribers, no advertising – free – and that’s tough,” he said at the Milken Global Conference 2012 on Wednesday.

“That business model is so tough. How long will it be until Google says, ‘We like this space,’ and invests three, four years in the business” – at a loss?...