Along with Rich and Martin, taking part in the teleconference were Julie Dash, director of “Daughters of the Dust” (1991); Leslie Harris, director of “Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.” (1993); Ernest Dickerson, director of “Juice” (1992); and Theodore Witcher, director of “Love Jones” (1997).

Many of the participants had never before talked to one another, reflecting a commonly reported feeling of isolation. But the experiences they shared — of barely disguised prejudice, of being marginalized by executives who feigned interest in their work, of lacking a safety net that seemed to buoy their white peers — fit into a kind of mosaic. It depicts a system that failed to sustain a generation of its minority talent, and stands as a challenge to those who would seek reform.

These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Sentenced to ‘Director’s Jail’

When did you first feel alienated in Hollywood?

LESLIE HARRIS (“Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.”) Right after [my debut] , I had a script about a female record executive. What I heard was that it was just hard to get a black actress in a movie, with me being a black woman director, producer and writer.

What would they say to you?

HARRIS Just that. “We can’t get financing.” This is from my agent.

JULIE DASH (“Daughters of the Dust”) I was told that, too. Also, when I would indicate that I’m here as a director to make films about black women, executives would say to me, “Why are you limiting yourself?” [Her film, the story of three generations of Gullah women facing the Great Migration, made Dash the first African-American woman to direct a movie in wide release.] I was like, “I’m not. I want to see our stories on the screen that haven’t been shown before. I’m bringing forth something new . Take a look at it.”

DARNELL MARTIN (“I Like It Like That”) As an African-American woman who speaks up and fights against things that are racist or misogynistic, I felt a very big backlash. If I had a penny for every time I was blacklisted and somebody told me, “ You will never work again ,” I’d be super, super wealthy. [Though Martin has worked regularly in television, she has made only one theatrical film since her 1994 debut, “Cadillac Records” in 2008.]