Women's place in the history of cinema is always a contentious discussion. Women have undoubtedly made their mark on the medium, but they have also been relegated to playing second fiddle to men in such major capacities as producing and directing. Representations of women in film have often been a point of controversy, especially after Laura Mulvey's essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" in which she offered up the theory of the male gaze. Mulvey's theory posits that female representations in cinema are created to maximize male pleasure.

According to a study by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, in 2013, female characters comprised only 15 percent of all protagonists and just 30 percent of all speaking characters in the top-grossing 100 films. The results were even lower behind-the-scenes as women only accounted for 6 percent of directors and 10 percent of writers working on the top-grossing 250 films in 2013. And those percentages were lower than in 1998.

In May, Jane Campion also spoke about the lack of women in the film industry while at Cannes. She said that out of the 1,800 films that were submitted to the festival only 7 percent were directed by woman. While the rate of women filmmakers and female-driven movies does not seem to be growing in Hollywood, 2014 has already seen two female-driven films perform better than expected.

"Maleficent," which was headlined by Angelina Jolie and was geared toward a female audience, opened with an outstanding $69 million weekend gross defeating tough competition from "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "A Million Ways to Die in the West." While the movie has only played for one weekend, "Maleficent's" early numbers may suggest that the film could have a great run.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's "The Other Woman" debuted with $24 million and went on to make $81 million. Not only did it open at No. 1 ahead of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," but the female-driven story has been in the top 10 for over six weeks.

Even independent films this year have seen similar trends. Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" may have a number of characters, but the central role is a female that easily gears towards women. The movie has done successful business for its small distributor Tribeca films. The Weinstein Company's "The Immigrant," which stars Marion Cotillard and tells the story of a woman who has to rescue her sister, has performed well despite a lack of marketing.

Other films with female-driven stories that have exceeded expectations at the box office over the past few years have included "Blue Jasmine" which went on to make an outstanding $33 million and became the third-highest grossing movie for Sony Classics, as well as "Bridesmaids," which went on to gross $169 million. The performance of these female-driven stories has shown that there is a large audience and following for these types of movies and that the old formula is no longer attracting the same large audience. While a movie like "The Other Woman" is able to hold on for six weekends in the top 10, tentpole male-driven flicks like "Godzilla" or "The Amazing "Spider-Man 2" are having a hard time maintaining their box office hold and record rapidly dropping grosses each week.

In the same vein, woman directors are sparse, but in the past few years they have been able to conquer major franchises and even make box office hits. In 2012, a study showed women only accounted for 18 percent of the industry working behind the scenes. However, that has not affected the immense impact women have had on the industry. Jane Campion is one of these filmmakers that has made history numerous times. Currently, she is the only woman to have ever won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival (1993) and this year she served as the President of the Cannes Jury. She is also only one of the four female directors to have been nominated for Best Director at the Oscars and she recently directed a TV series called "Top of the Lake" for the Sundance Channel.

Kathryn Bigelow has also thrived in the industry and she holds the only Best Director Oscar victory by a woman. She won the award in 2009 for her film in "The Hurt Locker." She has also defied female stereotypes and concentrated on making action thrillers throughout her career. In 2012, Bigelow once again defied genre conventions in her film "Zero Dark Thirty." While the film was a thriller, the lead was a woman. The film ended up being a box office hit as it made over $90 million domestically. It became one of the top grossing films directed by a woman.

Sofia Coppola has also made a huge name for herself with her wildly successful "Lost in Translation" and "Marie Antoinette." She has also received a Best Director nomination and also directed a number of critical hits including "Somewhere" and "The Bling Ring."

Catherine Hardwicke has also shown her versatility in Hollywood. Not only did she direct "Thirteen" and "Lords of Dogtown," but she also directed the first "Twilight" film; her installment of the vampire love story launched the international success of the franchise. Since then, Hardwicke has done the studio picture "Red Riding Hood" and she is working on a TV series entitled "Reckless."

Other female directors that have built important careers include Sally Porter, Sarah Polley, Kimberly Pierce, Phyllida Lloyd, Nancy Meyer, Lisa Cholodenko, Susanne Bier, and Mira Nair.

The female director has also thrived in the animated film world. The highest-grossing film directed by a woman is "Frozen." The movie was co-directed by Jennifer Lee and not only was it a family oriented film but it also had female protagonists. The movie went on to make $400 million domestically and $1.2 billion worldwide. It is essential to note that "Frozen" made history by becoming the second-straight female-directed animated film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature film; Brenda Chapman's "Brave" won the same award a year earlier.  

Other animated films directed by women have included "Kung Fu Panda  2," which was helmed by Jennifer Yuh, and "Shrek" and "Shark Tale," which were directed by Vicky Jenson.

While there is still a disparity in the business, it is becoming increasingly clear that woman have huge audiences and are capable of making powerful stories that resonate and defy all expectations.