[3] In addition to serving as general counsel to Film Independent (home of the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival) and the Writers Guild of America/West Foundation,[4] Donaldson practices at his Beverly Hills law firm, Donaldson Callif Perez LLP where, in 2008, entertainment attorney Lisa A. Callif became a partner,[5] and Chris Perez was named partner in 2021.

Filmmaker Robert Stevens was sentenced to three years in prison for violating a federal statute that criminalizes the depiction of cruelty to animals in film.

[8] Donaldson prepared an amicus brief in support of filmmaker Joe Berlinger, who was ordered to hand over some 600 hours of raw footage shot in connection with his documentary Crude.

Chevron Corporation requested the footage, intending to use it to defend itself in an Ecuadorian class-action lawsuit (filed against it for environmental contamination to the Amazon rainforest) as well as to help fend off the threatened criminal prosecution of two of its attorneys in the litigation.

A number of industry organizations and individuals signed on to the brief, including Film Independent, IFP Inc., Alex Gibney, and Eddie Schmidt, who was president of the International Documentary Association.

[14] Donaldson assisted in the effort to ensure that documentary filmmakers have the same rights as major studios in terms of the speed at which their films will be able to travel the internet.

He, along with Jack I. Lerner and the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, organized the efforts on a pro-bono bases in support of the principle termed Net Neutrality.

It was filed in response to the Internal Revenue Service's challenge of filmmaker Lee Storey's business expenses associated with his documentary Smile ‘Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story.

If documentary filmmaking were to be viewed by the IRS as merely a means to persuade or entertain – and not intended to turn a profit – documentarians would no longer be able to claim deductions incurred in the production of such films.

[citation needed] In his extensive, 2700-word review, Donaldson describes the book as "a sweeping retelling of American history from one of its most intelligent, dispassionate participants.

[21] In its defense, the state of New York attempted to obtain outtakes from the film, claiming the documentarians forfeited their journalistic privilege because they advocated on behalf of the subjects of the documentary.

[22] Donaldson fought for the filmmakers, arguing that preservation of journalistic privilege is essential in order for documentarians’ work to be effective, despite how the story was discovered or how passionately they advocate for their subjects.