How an LI Alum Helped Pave the Way For Women In Sports Entertainment

By David Stahler Jr. 

American professional sports culture has been traditionally dominated by men on either side of the camera, both the athletes and those charged with bringing their exploits into our homes. But forty years ago, LI alumna Barbara Donahue ‘74 set out to help change that by starting Grand Prix Productions. Over that time, her company has produced over 2500 shows on virtually every network that broadcasts sports, from networks like ABC and CBS to cable channels like ESPN and NESN, earning numerous awards and accolades in the process, including fourteen Emmy Awards.

Donahue’s journey from the Northeast Kingdom to California’s entertainment industry wasn’t a straightforward one, but through an openness to follow opportunities as they presented themselves, coupled with an energy and intensity that becomes obvious to anyone who spends even a few minutes talking to her, she forged her own path.

Donahue graduated from Lyndon Institute in 1974, but she wasn’t a native to the Kingdom. 

“I actually grew up in Princeton, New Jersey,” she told me. “My parents relocated us to the area when I was in 8th grade.”

She wasn’t enamored with the move to rural Vermont at first, but she soon came to appreciate country life. “Convincing my parents to get me a pony helped. I fell in love with riding. Overall, it was a lot of fun living close to the outdoors.”

Going to LI helped, too. 

“One of the best things about LI was that you could do so much. That’s the great thing about going to a smaller school, being able to get involved in a wide range of activities. I was a cheerleader, a drum major, a manager for the Nordic team, and a student council member. I did all kinds of sports, even ones I stunk at like gymnastics. It didn’t matter—it was fun! I tried to take advantage of every opportunity I could.”

The breadth of experiences not only made school fun, it offered some valuable lessons. “You know, sometimes trying something new and not being good at it is just as valuable as discovering your strengths. You learn to know your limits.”

After graduation, Donahue attended the University of Vermont, earning a B.A. in political science. 

“I was considering going to law school, so it made sense to study poli-sci. When graduation neared, my college roommate asked me what I was going to do. I said I wasn’t quite sure, so she said, ‘I’m moving to Boston. Why don’t you come with me?’”

So Donahue did, quickly landing a job in the legal department of a Boston bank, a choice that seemed to jibe with her law school plans. 

But soon an opportunity arose through a family connection to get a job with the New York Giants in their public relations department. Donahue was set to make the career change when fate stepped in.

“I was all ready to move to New York when I happened to go to a wedding and met a bunch of folks who worked at ABC. When I told them my plans, they said, ‘Why not come work with us at ABC? Instead of working in one sport, you get to do every sport with the network!’”

Before she knew it, Donahue had gotten her start in the world of sports entertainment as a production assistant at ABC. I asked her if working in television was as glamorous as it sounded.

“Being a production assistant is the lowest form of life in the entertainment industry,” she said with a laugh. “A lot of it involves getting coffee and booking airline tickets, hotel rooms, and limos for producers, directors, and announcers.”

Things got more interesting when she started being charged with putting graphics packages together for the studio. Getting an up close view of professional games like the World Series and other sporting events like the Olympics was another perk, though over time the novelty wore off.

“Sometimes while working on an event, we would ‘piggyback’ on an event we weren’t working and take the producer or director’s limo for a night out on the town instead of going to the game. Had a lot of fun in those days!” she said with a laugh.

Eventually, Donahue struck out on her own, starting her own production company and taking advantage of the contacts she’d made during her time at ABC Sports. She named her company Grand Prix Productions, not in honor of Formula 1 racing but in tribute to competitive show jumping with horses, one of her passions.

It wasn’t easy in those early days. “It was tough to be a woman in sports,” she said. “The men generally made it clear they didn’t want you there.”

But adversity taught her a lot. “You have to not be afraid to take risks and embrace who you are. One advantage I had as a woman in men’s sports is that I learned to carefully research everything. I didn’t have that direct experience of, for example, what it feels like to take a hit in a football game. So I would ask a million questions. I always came in well-prepared.” 

Having a family added more complications. “Sometimes I’d have to bring my kids to big events. I remember covering a live track and field event and getting weird looks because I had my baby by my side in a rocker.”

Her business grew through the 80s as networks began passing production off to outside companies. “ESPN really started the model of hiring freelance production companies,” she said. “Pretty soon, most networks were farming out just about every part of production. Except the end credits—they still wanted those to be done in-house.”

Donahue’s work has led her to covering everything from college basketball to professional hockey and even some more eclectic events from pro wrestling to IKC dog shows to paintball tournaments. Grand Prix Productions also produced the openings for ABC’s Monday Night Football until the network shifted to its more recent format featuring country music singer Carrie Underwood.

“We produced Battle of the Network Stars, so I even got to do fake sports,” she joked.

Most of her fourteen Emmy Awards were earned in the 80s and 90s for her work producing a range of events from Wimbledon to Olympic events to ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

Donahue’s work hasn’t been limited just to the world of sports, however. Grand Prix Productions has been tapped over the years by Hollywood to work on a range of feature films, from Meet Joe Black to Days of Thunder to Happy Gilmore.

“We’re responsible for filming and producing a lot of ‘behind the scenes' work and outtakes. All those great extras you see on DVDs and online.”

Donahue has found working in Hollywood an interesting experience with its own challenges. “Movie people are different,” she said. “Sports people tend to be pretty laid back. They just don’t care about most stuff. Movie people can be a bit more uptight.”

On the other hand, Donahue said it’s been fun getting to rub elbows (and talk sports) with actors like John Goodman and Brad Pitt. And there are times when being a woman in this world has had its advantages.

“There was one [well-known, award-winning] actress who was notoriously difficult to corner for interviews and was in a particularly bad mood the day I was supposed to film her. ‘You’ll never get her to talk,’ one of the producers said. I saw her in the corner in her chair doing needlepoint, so I approached her and told her I also did needlepoint and asked her about her work. Within a minute she’d warmed up to me and we spent a long time shooting for the interview. The producer couldn’t believe it.

“In general, I learned that you can connect to most folks by talking about sports, kids, or dogs—you run through them in that order and eventually you break through.”

Besides producing, Donahue has even taken time to write, having contributed pieces to the magazines Polo and Polo Times, as well as the newspaper Sidelines. She is also the author of the book The Anti-Rules: Now That You’ve Got Him, How Do You Get Rid of Him?, a title that reflects Donahue’s sharp wit and experience.

I asked Donahue how she managed to find the time to write in the midst of her busy professional life.

“My mind is always going, so writing turned out to be a good outlet for those downtimes you always end up having at an event or on set. I got a lot of writing done during major league baseball games, especially,” she joked.

Donahue credited her time in English teacher Burt Porter’s class at LI in helping inspire her to pick up the pen. “I remember it was toward the end of the year. We were seniors and pretty much mentally done with school, so Mr. Porter suggested we write a book together in class. The book was called Dandelions, and we each contributed a chapter focusing on some aspect of local life. I did a piece of maple sugaring. It was a great experience—something I really remember.”

Donahue will be traveling back to Lyndon Institute this June, not only to celebrate her 50th reunion but to deliver this year’s commencement address at graduation.