"Gilmore Girls" was ground-breaking in many ways. It was a show that celebrated women, family and small-town New England. But perhaps its greatest contribution to pop culture, outside of Jess Mariano, was its revolutionary storytelling -- and the diverse group of storytellers who brought this beloved WB show to life.

Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, "Gilmore Girls" employed a bevy of talented writers and directors -- who also just so happened to be women. When "Gilmore Girls" first hit the air in 2000, that was a rarity in television, and astonishingly, it's still an issue today.

Speaking to Sherman-Palladino at ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, the "Gilmore" creator remarked to MTV News on the uneven representation of women in the industry.

"The most frustrating thing about the sexism in Hollywood with writers and directors is that there are certain situations you get in and you know what's going to happen," Sherman-Palladino said. "When you get a pilot on the air, you get handed a list of approved directors that comes from the network and studio. You get get approved directors, and any one of these directors can direct your show. If there's no women on that list -- and there's usually not more than one, at least that's been my experience -- it's going to be up to you to say, 'I need some chicks!'"

"Now, that's easy for a loud mouth like me to say," she added. "When I did 'Bunheads,' I said, 'I want a female DP. There's no female DPs on this list -- go out and find me a female DP.' I had to do that. If it's your first gig, it's not a position you can take. The studios and the networks have to open their gates up. That is part of it. The guilds need to get involved. I know the DGA [Directors Guild of America] says it's not their fault, but I've had some experiences with the DGA that I thought were a little misogynistic. Maybe that's changing, and with the rise of women like Michelle MacLaren and Lexi Alexander, now it feels like things are starting to change. But I know if you talk to any of those women, they had to fight harder and they had to jump through more hoops to get there."

Change is in the air. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an investigation into the lack of female directors in film and TV. A DGA study, which the ACLU cited in their letters, found that only 14 percent of 220 TV shows -- 3,500 episodes in total -- had women at the helm. If bias is found, even in Hollywood’s biggest studios, legal charges might be filed. Sherman-Palladino, however, isn't so optimistic.

"I don't know what the ACLU is going to be able to do. I wish them luck," she said. "I'm on their side, but it's an amorphous thing because in creative situations there's a million ways to say, 'I didn't hire this person for this reason that has nothing to do with their gender,' but you know it does."

Instead, she said, it's women in the industry who have the power to make change happen.

"I really believe that for women to get into a position of power, it's up to them to say, 'I want a female DP, I want more female directors, I want a female producer, I need more chicks on my staff,'" Sherman-Palladino said. "That's how men did it. Men built it a certain way -- men wanted people around them who understood what they were talking about -- now women have to do the same thing."

For a show like "Gilmore Girls" to succeed, which was very much based on the female experience, it needed writers and directors who shared similar experiences and were inspired to tell Lorelai and Rory's stories. Many of them happened to be women. But as Sherman-Palladino pointed out, that is an unique experience.

"When I was on 'Roseanne,' my very first job was me and my partner -- we were a team of women, cheap, because team's split the money -- and they needed female writers because there were teenage daughters on the show. That's basically why we got the job. Because we were women," she said. "Most of that first year we were the only women in the room. That was not uncommon at that time. My [writers'] rooms have always had a lot of women in them because I've always felt I'm writing about women -- not only about women but a lot about women -- so I need some menstruation in the room."

Of course, that's not to say that only women can write intelligent and emotionally stirring stories about female characters.

"That's absolute bulls--t. It's a myth. Some of the worst female dialogue comes from female writers," Sherman-Palladino said. "Look at Joss Whedon! Who writes better female characters than Joss Whedon -- well, forget the last 'Avengers' -- but, before that. Anybody can write for anybody if you can write, if you have the voice in your head and you have the imagination."

"That being said, it doesn't mean that a white writer can't write for a black actor, but if you've got a black show, you've got to have black people on that staff," she added. "It's about experience and growing up and personal stories. Same if you've got a female show without chicks there -- it's crazy. You're limiting your options, and you're limiting what you're saying to the audience."