Patriarchy is still the default power structure in our society, so stories about entitled princes claiming their birthright or Machiavellian kings vying for power will never hold the same weight as those about empowered women. More importantly, female rule almost always implies some form of tragic circumstance.

Nearly 100 firms in California that currently don't — about a quarter of the state's public corporations — have a year to find a female director, or face a $100,000 fine. But the demand outnumbers the female chairmen and CEOs with whom board searches typically begin — and end. Only 5.1 percent (151 companies) of firms on the Russell 3000 stock index have female CEOs, while just 24 women lead an S&P 500 corporation.

Nkechi Okoro Carroll was an executive story editor on Bones, explains "When someone asked me to recommend mid-level female writers [of color] for a job, I was appalled to realize I didn't know many names." So she and Lena Waithe formed Black Women Who Brunch (BWB), a networking group of black female TV writers. The group started with 12; today, the membership nears 80.

While female stunt coordinators are a rarity, Bell says she hasn't had any issue commanding authority. She credits her tight-knit crew of Tarantino regulars who've seen her entire journey. “I was a baby and now I am heading a department,” she says. “I have come a long way from a girl with pigtails and acne showing up and going, ‘Hey guys, I’m here! Where do you want me to fall over?’”

“People, men and women, have become a little more thoughtful, a little more reflective, in the boardroom, in hiring decisions, in the question of pay,” adds Rola Bauer, managing director of StudioCanal TV, noting however, that, in the television business, real power “comes from who controls the purse strings,” and advising ambitious women to "build their own thing" if they want to shake things up at the very top.

Paul Feig is launching a female director incubator through his and Laura Fischer's digital content company, Powderkeg. The new program, titled Powderkeg: Fuse, will launch with the production of six short films from an inclusive group of ethnically diverse female directors.

"Being cast as the first female Doctor is extraordinary, and I'm going to dine out on it forever, but what I can't wait for is the moment — because TV does represent the society we live in in every way — where we don't just see [stories] from the same perspective continually. That's being embraced now. Women are not a genre, we're just the other half of the population."

"Equality between men and women is the epicenter and the most powerful weapon of democracy,” said Spanish Vice President Carmen Calvo, who was in town for the event. “Film is a powerful weapon. It is a space where life is told, but also where life is displayed. That is why when women find greater difficulties to access it, really real subjects are not handled. Without us, there is no democracy, and with us democracy improves.”

'Hoops' will revolve around a former WNBA star who winds up becoming the first female head coach of a men's college basketball team. James is also readying a scripted drama about Madam C.J. Walker for Netflix and an HBO documentary on Muhammad Ali.

When is time really up? Which kinds of past sexual misconduct can eventually be forgiven — and who gets to decide? While some have expressed concerns that the Time's Up movement could go too far, others fear that the absence of clear standards might slow a long overdue movement, that misconduct short of violent assault will be acceptable — again or still — and that men in power will remain invincible.

Italy has one of the worst records in Europe when it comes to gender parity across all segments of society. Its proportion of women in the workplace — less than half — is one of the lowest of any developed economy, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And despite women being as educated as men, they spend more time doing unpaid work such as taking care of children and the elderly. According to a 2017 study by the World Economic Forum, 62 percent of Italian women’s work each day is unpaid (the highest percentage in Western Europe).

The gender flip stands to bring a fresh perspective to one of the most ferocious works of David Mamet, a playwright frequently accused of misogyny.