Alicia Malone

Alicia Maree Malone (born 4 September 1981) is an Australian–American author and television host for Turner Classic Movies.

Early life
Malone was born in Canberra, Australia. When she was three years old, she watched The NeverEnding Story (1984) in a movie theater with her mother and sisters. During the film, the character Atreyu tries to save his beloved horse Artax, which made her very emotional. She remembered, "I started crying and yelling ... I made so much noise my mum had to take me out of the theater."

While studying at Canberra Girls Grammar School, she started a film club, intending to convince her classmates to appreciate classic cinema. After graduating, she chose not to attend a university but instead moved to Sydney, intending to work in television. There, she applied and won a half scholarship to study television at a technical college. Meanwhile, she worked at a Video Ezy rental store, where she was hired on the spot, and advised unsuspecting customers which films they should rent. After an acquaintance suggested her, she began working at the Channel Seven television station, which was broadcasting the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at the time, as a teleprompter operator.

Malone stayed at Channel Seven for six years, working a variety of production roles. Then, she applied for a job opening for a producer and editor for the premium television station the Movie Network. There, she hosted film-related television programs, including Movie Juice and Premiere. Renee Brack, a friend and colleague of hers, allowed Malone to do live red carpet events.

Film journalist
In 2010, Malone moved to Los Angeles and was permitted an O visa, allowing her to only work in television. Her first work in the United States was doing press junkets for the Australian Today show. During these events, she developed a habit for hugging the celebrities she had interviewed. She recalled: "...you know, you're not supposed to touch these celebrities, they're kind of the untouchable — some of them you can't even shake hands with. So I thought a hug would be a great way to break the ice, to make it be like, we're both humans ... and then it became kind of a theme."

On 20 September 2015, Malone gave her first TEDx Talk titled #GirlsInFilm at TEDxSanJuanIsland. In this talk, she discussed the under representation of females in the Hollywood film industry. On 13 May 2017, she gave her second seminar at TEDxBend titled Female Directors in Hollywood & Impact of Movies Made From 1 Perspective. There, she recounted the history of female film directors in Hollywood, and how women can empower other women so that more than one type of story can be told.

Malone also worked as a correspondent for Fandango, where she created and hosted the web series Indie Movie Guide. As a correspondent, she covered numerous film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Sundance, Telluride, and South by Southwest (SXSW). At the 2018 SXSW Conference, Malone moderated an all-female panel discussion titled "The Female Voices of Film Twitter," with film critics Monica Castillo, Jacqueline Coley, Amy Nicholson, and Jen Yamato. At the 2019 SXSW Conference, she moderated another panel discussion inspired by her book The Female Gaze, discussing with three other female directors about their careers, subverting the male gaze, and whether female directors are telling authentic stories. In 2019, she began hosting the video series Reel Destinations for Focus Features, exploring the actual locations of their films.

Author
While reading the book Movie-Made America by Robert Sklar, Malone came across the fact that there were more opportunities for women during the first few decades of American cinema than any other industry at the time. Interested, she thoroughly researched the topic and interviewed prominent figures about the historical involvement and under representation of females in the Hollywood film industry. In 2017, she published her first book Backwards and in Heels. She followed up with her second book The Female Gaze in response to readers who asked how can they support female filmmakers in the industry. In 2022, she published her third book Girls on Film, detailing her personal history and career, and how her love for classic cinema has shaped her worldview.

Television host
One night, in 2010, after channel-surfing on cable television, Malone wrote down a particular goal in mind to become a host for Turner Classic Movies (TCM). In 2014, she co-hosted the podcast series Profiles with Malone and Mantz, alongside Scott Mantz for Popcorn Talk Network. There, Keven Undergaro, co-founder of Popcorn Talk, held a private seminar with Malone, where she mentioned her dream goal. Undergaro knew Darcy Hettrich, who worked as the head of talent for TCM. Nervous at the prospect, Malone spent a year sharpening her skills before submitting a showreel of herself discussing classic films. At the time, Turner Classic Movies was partnering with The Criterion Collection on FilmStruck, a film streaming service. In 2016, she was hired to host video introductions for FilmStruck. She also hosted The FilmStruck Podcast interviewing filmmakers whose films were featured on the service. In November 2018, FilmStruck was shut down by WarnerMedia, under the ownership of AT&T, to streamline business operations.

In 2018, Malone was hired as a full-time host for Turner Classic Movies, making her first official appearance on 4 March. She has stated that before filming her introductions, she watches all the films, does research to understand the background behind the films, and know how to expertly read a teleprompter. As of 2024, she hosts the afternoon lineup on Sundays and the primetime lineup on Tuesdays. In 2019, she was made the current host of the TCM Imports programming block on late Sunday nights.

In the fall of 2020, Malone and her colleague Jacqueline Stewart cohosted an original limited interview series titled Women Make Film, inspired by Mark Cousins' documentary of the same title. Malone told Entertainment Weekly this was the first time she felt free to professionally discuss women in film to the degree she wanted: "Usually in my previous jobs I've been told, 'Shh, don't talk so much about women. You've got to broaden things out; otherwise, the men won't listen.' I love that at TCM I've been given free rein, and Jacqueline as well, to speak about any subject we like with these special guests." During the summer of 2022, she hosted an original limited series Follow the Thread, interviewing fashion and costume designers about men and women's fashion trends from the 19th to the mid-late 20th century.

Personal life
Malone lives in Maine, having relocated there from Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic. There, she joined the board of directors for the Strand Theatre, a historic movie theatre in Rockland.