The movie industry is “failing women,” Manohla Dargis of The Times has said.

Is this fall’s crop an exception or a possible sign of a shift afoot? Certainly there are no major films built around women of color on the horizon. So we asked actresses, writers and directors (including a few men) from forthcoming films about what’s changed, what needs to change and how. They didn’t always agree, and the subject won’t be settled anytime soon.

Here are excerpts from those conversations:

Are women in Hollywood unfairly denied opportunities to act, direct, write and produce?

JULIANNE MOORE I’ve had a lot of luck in my career and I’ve worked with a lot of really wonderful directors, so I can’t complain. When people start putting this on the entertainment business, I’m like, “Wait a minute, this is endemic to our culture at large.” [However,] sometimes I read a script and there’s only one female in it. That’s not what my world looks like. I have days where the only men I see are my husband and my teenage son, but the rest of the day, I go to my yoga class, I see a female friend for lunch, I talk to my female manager on the phone. So how is that even possible?

CATE BLANCHETT I do think there’s a sense in the industry, and in most industries, that a woman can’t screw up. Look at the number of second-time male directors: If for some reason their film doesn’t do well, in eight to 12 months they’re back in there again, someone backs them. It’s always on the marketing schedule that a woman has directed the film, which on one hand you want to celebrate, but on the other does put a remarkable amount of pressure on, is it going to work? So the numbers people go into it with their arms slightly crossed, and I think that has an impact on the courage of a woman’s creative expression.

ELLEN PAGE Absolutely, women and all minorities [are denied opportunities], African-American men, African-American women, trans men, trans women, the list goes on.

MICHAEL SHANNON, CO-STAR, “FREEHELD” They say it’s harder for women in this business, and maybe there is a narrower window of opportunity, but I think it’s a hard life for anybody. I know a lot of guys who are sitting there with their thumbs up their butts. It’s hard, but some of the most exciting actors right now are women. I’ve worked with a lot of really strong women, Jessica Chastain, Julie, Ellen.