His love for documentaries has him returning to the form often, and his current interests have him exploring themes in Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Immersive Storytelling (VR, AR, 360), and Social Impact Entertainment.
He produced hundreds of hours of local news, documentary, and children's television in New Orleans before moving to Los Angeles in 1991 to attend the American Film Institute (AFI).
[1] After AFI, he worked for Paulist Productions as the Director of Development and was a co-producer on Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996) written by John Wells, starring Moira Kelly and Martin Sheen.
[5] Donahue produced the 2000 feature, Straight Right and won an Emmy Award for the documentary, Be Good, Smile Pretty (2003), broadcast on the PBS series, Independent Lens.
[7] From 2000 to 2006, Donahue served as the first full-time Executive Director for the Humanitas Prize,[8][9] an annual writer's award that celebrates films and television shows that not only entertain, but also enrich the viewing public.
[8] The western crime drama lasted for 6 seasons, and was based on Walt Longmire, the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming,[11] starring Robert Taylor, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Katee Sackhoff.
[12] Donahue was president of Paulist Productions from July 2014 to 2018,[8][13] where he sourced, negotiated, and established a multi-million dollar, three picture co-financing and co-production arrangement with MarVista Entertainment.
Donahue received two consecutive New Orleans Press Club Awards, for the documentaries Russia: A Prison of Nations and Nicaragua: A Land Divided.