Vanessa Fica

As controversy erupts around Clarence and Ginni Thomas, FRONTLINE tells the inside story of their path to power. This investigation traces how race, power, and controversy collide in the rise of the Supreme Court justice and his wife and how the couple has reshaped American law and politics.

Peabody Award winner for News in 2023. The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors wrote: “For painting a revelatory psychological and social portrait of an American power couple at the center of today’s fights over democracy and individual rights, Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court wins a Peabody Award.”

This Walter Cronkite Award and WGA Award-winning film for FRONTLINE investigates American political leaders and choices they’ve made that have undermined and threatened democracy in the U.S..

To produce Lies, Politics and Democracy, I secured more than 40 interviews with current and former members of Congress and advisers who worked in the Trump administration, as well as journalists, legal scholars and political scientists. Among these interviews was the first ever television interview with the honorable Judge J. Michael Luttig, a key witness for the January 6th committee.

FRONTLINE investigates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s clashes with multiple American presidents as he’s tried to rebuild the Russian empire. Veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team trace the miscalculations and missteps of U.S. presidents over five administrations, culminating in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

As the reporter and producer of this film, I secured interviews with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, numerous ambassadors and administration officials to provide an inside look at America’s tenuous relationship with the Russian president.

FRONTLINE tells the story of what led to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. Veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk and his team examine the events that shaped the Russian leader, the grievances that drive him, and how a growing conflict with the West exploded into war in Europe.

In an Emmy Award-winning investigation with The New York Times, FRONTLINE examines the commercial pressures, flawed design and failed oversight behind Boeing’s 737 Max jet and the crashes that killed 346 people.

A two-part investigation of an airline’s troubling safety culture and the FAA’s lack of oversight. I developed 20+ sources, analyzed thousands of documents, filed dozens of FOIA requests, worked with lawyers to appeal for the release of documents, and conducted statistical analyses.

The report won a 2019 Murrow award for Investigative Reporting, was nominated for a 2019 Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Story, prompted an Inspector General report and actions by Congress.

A coming-of-age story about Japan’s biggest kabuki star as he attempts to breathe new life into a four-hundred-year-old tradition.

After pitching this story to 60 Minutes, I negotiated with the subject for months to gain access. I took charge of research by speaking with scholars and diving into academic papers and books to develop a deep understanding of this art form.

My team and I traveled to Japan, where I selected shoot locations, obtained filming permits, helped direct the look and feel of all interviews and negotiated archival footage. Upon returning, I helped edit this segment remotely — selecting the shots, crafting the narrative and ultimately, fact-checking the piece.

In 70 countries worldwide where same-sex intimacy is criminalized, LGBTQ citizens live in fear for their freedom, their safety and – in some cases – their lives. Their governments not only sanction brutality against them, but often carry it out.

In this report, we followed escapees from Chechnya, Egypt and Jamaica who left their homes in search of a better life.

This story won the 2020 NLGJA Excellence in International Coverage Award and is nominated for a GLAAD Award in Outstanding TV Journalism for a Newsmagazine.

From the pandemic to the polls, 2020 has been a time of tumult across a deeply divided America. FRONTLINE presents a post-election special on the lives, fears and hopes of Americans in the chaotic months leading up to the historic presidential contest. This documentary was filmed around the U.S. for much of the year, following Americans as they dealt with COVID-19 in their communities this spring, responded to George Floyd’s killing this summer, and then experienced the polarizing election and its aftermath this fall.

This 2021 Peabody Award-nominated film investigates the hidden toll of the pandemic of those who cannot stay home: Agricultural workers, many of whom are undocumented immigrants, who have been deemed essential to the nation’s food supply.

A 2021 Emmy nominee for Outstanding Feature Story in a Newsmagazine.

An intimate story of an immigrant family whose life was upended by the coronavirus. "Love, Life and the Virus" follows Zully, a 30-year-old mother, who is diagnosed with COVID-19 — and gives birth while on a ventilator.

Filmed in Israel, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, “Saving the Children” is the remarkable story of a man who saved 669 Jewish children on the eve of World War II. I conducted research at the National Archives in D.C., Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to discover unseen footage and documents related to the rescue mission.

Nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing.

In his final television interview while in office, Barack Obama examined his legacy after eight years in office. This one-hour special was filmed at the White House.

A voyage to the windswept Scottish island of Islay, renowned for crafting some of the world’s best single malt whisky. As a co-producer on what would be Bob Simon’s final segment for 60 Minutes, I traversed the island and met the locals to cast this story and take viewers on an unforgettable journey.

I spent a week in Oakland filming with the Golden State Warriors, a team whose roster is an embarrassment of riches.

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston sat down for a rare group interview to reflect on their successes, the haters and leaving Oakland, home of the Warriors for the last 47 years.

An intimate and in-depth interview with tennis phenom Rafael Nadal from his hometown on the island of Mallorca, Spain.

In addition to guiding the look and feel of the interview on-set and in the edit room, I served as the translator on the back-end to ensure the accuracy of Nadal’s words. I also took charge of social media strategy on this project and was able to get the star himself to tweet the segment to his 15+ million followers.

The residents of Cateura, Paraguay don't just make a living from the massive garbage heap in their town, they also make music.

As the Spanish-speaking producer on this project, I helped produce an intimate and nuanced portrait of this community and the children that play beautiful music on instruments made of trash.

This segment won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing.

This dispatch from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia included an interview with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his first with American television. As part of my travel to the Kingdom, my role was to report on Saudi women who were proceeding cautiously with social and economic changes.

When an avalanche leveled a remote mountain ski resort in Italy’s Gran Sasso Mountains and we heard there were survivors still buried, we immediately packed our bags to report from the scene. Steve Kroft interviewed survivors of the avalanche about their terrifying 72 hours trapped underground and the rescuers who stopped at nothing to get them out.

This piece was produced in four days and edited remotely from Italy.

Amidst the backdrop of ongoing violence in Egypt, 60 Minutes traveled to Cairo and a remote monastery along the Red Sea to report on the Coptic Christian minority.

Alongside Correspondent Bob Simon and legendary producer Harry Radliffe, we interviewed the newly appointed pope of the Coptic Christian Church and monks at some of the holiest sites. We also witnessed exorcisms at an evangelical church in Cairo’s “Garbage City.”

The 2010 rescue of the Chilean miners inspired the world with the story’s themes of humanity, ingenuity and survival. Yet, we wanted to catch up with the men after the bright lights had faded.

Six months after the miners emerged from the depths of the earth, we found the 33 men grappling with their new reality.

Jolie invited us to Budapest, the city where she filmed her directorial debut. The renowned actress opened up to Bob Simon about her filmmaking ambitions, her dark past and the loss of her mother.

I traveled to the top of the world — 16,000 feet above sea level — in Chile’s Atacama desert to report on the world’s most powerful radio telescope.