Sure, they may the only jobs available to them on the path to directing, but, Pierce said, the problem is also the solution: The odd jobs made them better directors.

The good news is the numbers seem to be getting better. 2019 was a “banner year” for female directors. And Cousins’ documentary and the subsequent discussions will also help advance the conversation about women directors by focusing on their art and not just statistics.

“What we can do is start to celebrate the films that we have, the filmmakers that are making these movies and also talk to them about craft, which is something female filmmakers rarely get to do,” Malone said. “Usually, and I’ve been guilty of this, we talk to female directors only about being a woman in the industry and we talk to male directors about their craft and their technique.”

Peirce, who is helping to enact change in the industry as an Academy Governor and on the leadership team of the Directors Guild, said she often finds herself on panels and in documentaries talking about being a female filmmaker.

“A lot of the living filmmakers, we’re friends with each other, we’re a support system and we’re a really beautiful community,” she said. “And we’ve all been fighting the fight to tell our stories, tell stories well and tell the stories of women telling stories.”

And now they have another ally in TCM.

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr