Backwards & In Heels
Stories of women in the film industry, onscreen and off, and interviews with Ava DuVernay, America Ferrera, Geena Davis, Octavia Spencer, and more.
Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels . . .
One of the first people to ever pick up a motion picture camera was a woman—as was the first screenwriter to win two Academy Awards, the inventor of the boom microphone, and the first person to be credited with the title Film Editor. From Hollywood’s earliest days, women have been revolutionizing, innovating, and shaping how we make movies. Yet their stories are rarely shared.
In Backwards and in Heels, film reporter and author of The Female Gaze Alicia Malone tells the history of women in film through stories about incredible ladies who made their mark throughout each era of Hollywood, from the first women directors, to the iconic movie stars, to present-day activists. These inspiring stories also highlight the specific obstacles women have had to face. Backwards and in Heels combines research and exclusive interviews with influential women and men working in Hollywood today, such as Geena Davis, J.J. Abrams, Ava DuVernay, Octavia Spencer, America Ferrera, Paul Feig, Todd Fisher, and many more, as well as film professors, historians, and experts.
Alicia Malone
Alicia Malone is a film reporter, host, writer and self-confessed movie geek. She first gained notice hosting movie-centric shows and reviewing films in her native Australia, before making the leap to Los Angeles in 2011. Since then, Alicia has appeared on CNN, the Today show, MSNBC, NPR and many more as a film expert. Currently, she is a host on FilmStruck, a cinephile subscription streaming service run by the Criterion Collection and Turner Classic Movies, and she is the creator and host of the weekly show, Indie Movie Guide on Fandango. Alicia is passionate about classic films, independent movies and supporting women in film. In 2015, Alicia gave a TEDx talk about the lack of women working in film and why this is important to change. In 2017, she was invited to give a second TEDx talk, where she spoke about the hidden stories of the earliest women working in Hollywood. Alicia has also spoken at conferences around America, and because of this, was named of one the 100 Worthy Women of 2016. Alicia has traveled the world to cover the BAFTAs, the Oscars, the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and SXSW. She is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and over the years has interviewed hundreds of movie stars and filmmakers. She also wrote this bio, but knew it would sound way less egotistical if written in third person.
