In a time when female voices are being silenced in the real world, telling women’s stories in film and television has become paramount. For Starz, one “credo” remains key: authenticity.
For more than a decade, the network has championed bold, multifaceted portrayals of women — whether through the fierce figures of the “Power” Universe or the resilient, emotionally rich characters of “Outlander.” At TheWrap’s 2025 Power Women Summit panel “Sensuality and Strength: Breaking the Mold in Female Storytelling,” presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead, President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby, “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” star Patina Miller and “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” executive producer Toni Graphia reflected on how their shared dedication to storytelling remains central to their works’ identity.
“If you look at ‘The Girlfriend Experience,’ and you look at ‘Outlander,’ and you look at ‘Three Women,’ and you look at a show like ‘Raising Kanan’ with Patina as the lead, it’s so important to us to make programming for, by and about women and underrepresented voices,” Busby said. “We take it so seriously. We have an incredibly loyal audience, and it’s just what we do.”
Asked how Starz balances those values with commercial viability, Busby emphasized that contrary to popular opinion, she believes dedicated storytelling can go hand in hand with a network’s business goals.
“Something that is really authentic and really true to what it is and to a world does become commercial because the specificity is really your human experience,” she said. “If you portray your human experience, we’re all human beings, so things become commercially viable.”
She cited another Starz fan-favorite, “P-Valley,” and its focus on female strippers in the Mississippi Delta as a prime example.
“It could not be more niche, more specific — probably very far from all of the experiences that we have. And yet it does incredibly well. It is so popular, it is commercially viable. So authenticity is the key,” she said.
Miller expressed that she felt uniquely empowered as a woman while starring as the top-billed actress on “Power Book III.”
“I just went into my strength and being who I am and knowing the type of stories I want to tell, the type of characters I want to portray, and being honest about that, it was just easy to walk into that,” she said, adding that even on a male-heavy set, “they have all built me up.”
The one and only @patinamiller talks about being the first female lead in the #Power franchise during the "Sensuality and Strength: Breaking the Mold in Female Storytelling" panel at #PowerWomenSummit2025 presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead ✨ pic.twitter.com/UKBgZJI0c5
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) December 2, 2025
“I think the key to what makes it work at Starz is we really believe in representation … it in front of the camera, behind the camera, in the boardroom, everywhere,” Busby explained. “So when we, the people of the world, are making shows, and we’re developing shows that feature complicated female portrayals and nuanced characters, it’s because it really takes a village of people that are living that experience.”
With television always evolving and mirroring what’s happening in the real world, the path female characters take over the next several years has not been set in stone yet. But for Busby, Miller and Graphia, they are confident that as long as women behind the scenes have agency, and opportunity, then the right stories will continue to be told on screen. Graphia applauded executives like Busby’s role in guiding stories like the “Outlander” and “Power” franchises.
“When I started, there wasn’t female executives that were supportive of us,”
Graphia shared, adding that she tries to be a mentor to women in the field and storytellers coming up behind her.
“I can’t predict a prototype of what the new women character is going to be, but I think they’re going to come from those minds and that passion and that dedication and loyalty to people who’ve been treated well — from the network, studio, from us, producers, from everyone,” she said. “The key for the future is what Kathryn said about authenticity. Now they’re not like these shallow, two-dimensional women. It’s going to come from real experiences, and as really the people in the world have more experiences as women, it’s going to come into the characters, and when those characters are portrayed authentically, it’s going to seep into the women who are coming up.
“It’s circular, and it creates a synchronicity that is going to be valuable to us all in this crazy world,” the EP said.
TheWrap’s Power Women Summit presented by STARZ #TakeTheLead is the essential gathering of the most influential women across entertainment and media. The event aims to inspire and empower women across the landscape of their professional careers and personal lives. PWS provides one day of keynotes, panels, workshops and networking. For more information visit: thewrap.com/pws. For all Power Women Summit 2025 coverage, click here.
