When Lena Waithe tells a story, you feel it in your chest. From the intimate heartbreaks of Twenties, the hard-edged hope of The Chi, or unforgettable moments in Master of None, Waithe’s work cuts with precision. She’s long been a creative force unafraid to merge message with medium. But her latest storytelling canvas swaps script for strain.
First Draft, her debut cannabis release, is a lush, sativa-dominant hybrid co-developed with Ball Family Farms, the award-winning cultivation company founded by Chris Ball, a legacy grower and equity advocate. Known for his meticulous, living-soil cultivation and phenohunting prowess, Ball brings deep credibility to a collaboration that could’ve easily been just another celebrity brand. Instead, First Draft is something else entirely: a creative tool born from months of testing, tweaking, and—of course—smoking.
For Waithe, this project is about creating a strain that writers and artists can turn to when the page is blank, the ideas are stuck, and the muse needs a nudge. A blend of gelato genetics and a proprietary sativa phenotype, First Draft was developed through an unusually hands-on process—voice notes, blind tests, deep creative dialogue between Ball and Waithe—that brought the two innovators into rare alignment.
“It opens up your mind,” Waithe said. “Then it turns into a body high, so you relax after the writing, but it doesn’t make you tired. That was really something.”
The partnership also represents a new kind of cannabis launch—one with culture at its core. In addition to the strain, Waithe and Ball created an Instagram video series documenting their journey into cannabis, and The Chi’s latest season introduces a character loosely based on Ball himself. Their collaboration even debuted at a stylish, invitation-only “Presidential Suite” party—a nod to both politics and power.
This is storytelling that smokes.
In the conversation that follows, Lena Waithe and Chris Ball open up about the making of First Draft, their mutual respect, and what it means to tell honest stories, whether onscreen or in flower form.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q&A with Lena Waithe and Chris Ball
Cannabis & Tech Today: Lena, you’ve said First Draft ignites your inner creative flame and is meant to help writers and creators. How does that strain help you focus and tap into the creative world?
Lena Waithe: It’s interesting because I think weed really can be used as a tool, not unlike AI is a tool. What this strain does—what I wanted it to do—is not put you to sleep, but rather turn your brain on in a different way. It opens up your mind a little bit to ideas you might not have had you not smoked. Then it turns into a body high, so you relax after the writing, but it doesn’t make you tired, which I thought was really something.
I don’t love indica. Chris knows that. A lot of guys do, but for me, I’ve shifted my relationship with weed. I try not to smoke all day—maybe a joint a day, or I’ll skip a day—just to keep the tolerance high, excuse the pun, and make sure it’s not something I need to write.
Recently, I’ve been writing without smoking and then treating the smoking as a break. A toast to myself after a session. But some people prefer to write high and see what comes out of it. That’s what First Draft really does—it opens up your mind and hopefully helps you write something you wouldn’t ordinarily write.
C&T Today: Do you notice a difference in your writing when you’re high versus when you’re not? And did you smoke earlier in your career?
Lena Waithe: I didn’t start smoking until my thirties—I’m 41 now. I think people have different relationships with weed. Sometimes you’re heavy into it, other times you take breaks or fall back. So, no, the first part of my career, writing pilots and things, I wasn’t smoking.
If I do now, it’s more about, “Here’s an interesting idea I might delete later—or refine.” A high idea versus a sober one. And how do you marry the two to get the best product?
C&T Today: So sometimes you have an idea when you’re high, marinate on it, then revisit it the next day and write sober?
Lena Waithe: Yeah, it’s all tied together. I work in TV, so if I have a crazy idea, I have to share it with my showrunner and the writers’ room. I’ll shoot a note to my team—“Hey, what about this?” or “What if we went this route?”—and we’ll workshop it. But when I’m actually writing, I’m not smoking. So it’s a mix—thinking while smoking, then executing sober. That marriage works really well for me.
C&T Today: Lena, you were involved in the phenohunting of First Draft—what drew you into the grow room, and what qualities were non-negotiable?
Lena Waithe: That’s really Chris’s question. I was just telling him what I liked. He sent me a bunch of strains, and I let him know my favorites. Then he and his team did the magic. I was sending voice notes, telling him how I felt about them, what I liked. Then he blended it all.
Chris Ball: As far as the phenohunting is concerned, Lena didn’t know much about cultivation when I brought her to the facility. But she was fascinated by the living soil, the fact that we use water you could literally drink.
So I gave her strains we were already phenohunting—not from our library, but new stuff. I wanted it to be unique to her. She kept choosing sativa-dominant hybrids. Not OG, more candy profiles—lemon cherry, gelato, Skittle-type strains. I even did some blind tests—gave her the same one under different numbers—and she kept picking it. That’s when I knew we had a winner.
Lena Waithe: That process was dope.
Chris Ball: It really was. I’ve collaborated with Ricky Williams, Al Harrington, Jay—but Lena was so connected to the product. Her voice notes were detailed, not just about taste but how it made her feel, what mood it put her in. She’s a storyteller. Seeing those two worlds collide—the weed and the narrative—was just fun.
C&T Today: Lena, your portfolio spans acting, producing, writing—how does cannabis tie into all that?
Lena Waithe: I think of the strain like a story. This is another creative project. When people say they like First Draft, it’s like hearing they liked an episode of The Chi or a season of Twenties.
On The Chi, we pay homage to Boyz n the Hood, New Jack City, Love Jones. I love showing love to my favorite things, and First Draft fits in like another title in my filmography.
C&T Today: Tell us a little about Hillman Grad and what’s next.
Lena Waithe: Hillman Grad looks different now, but today is actually the season seven finale of The Chi. We’re writing season eight.
There’s a character loosely based on Chris—a grower doing it the right way. Chris even talked to the writer’s room and the actor. Showed him his outfit, same Vans and everything.
We’re not afraid to portray cannabis honestly. One character maybe smokes too much—he’s young, and we show how even weed can be overused. But I don’t think cannabis is addictive. Our goal is to educate. Everyone on The Chi smokes. That was true before I even smoked. I just wanted it to reflect real life—ritual, relief, escape, especially for marginalized communities.
Hillman Grad reflects where I am. If I’m turning the weed knob down in my life, we’ll show that in the characters, too.
C&T Today: As a queer Black creative stepping into cannabis entrepreneurship, how are you redefining leadership in the space? How does First Draft embody that?
Lena Waithe: Chris brought me in. That was everything. I always try to partner with someone who knows the space better than I do.
What’s special about Chris and me is that it’s not just business—we check in as humans. That’s important. This can’t be purely transactional because cannabis is of the earth. A friend of mine calls it a spirit. You have to be in the space in good spirit.
We’re still figuring out how to keep building this relationship. I don’t even think of myself as a leader—I’m a student. I’m grateful to be learning from someone who’s doing it beautifully.
C&T Today: The Chi has always tackled complex issues. How do you see cannabis culture in Chicago, and is equity still a challenge?
Lena Waithe: I’m not based in Chicago, so I don’t want to speak out of turn. But I brought production there and tapped into the community. It’s legal, but there’s still a learning curve. You can buy weed in stores, but I don’t know all the specifics. I’m just glad the city has a relationship with cannabis.
We’re still in early days, culturally and legislatively. Some places are half-on, half-off—legal in some ways, restricted in others. Chicago’s in that limbo. The conversation around cannabis needs to continue—and it needs to be healthy and informed.
Chris Ball: I can probably speak to that better. The equity situation in Chicago is broken—just like L.A. There are tons of equity applicants who don’t have the resources, funding, or support to get their businesses running. It’s still locked up by those with capital, contacts, or family in government. It needs attention—and tax reform.
C&T Today: So Chris, tell us about your story. I know you were arrested and later got a social equity license. How did Ball Family Farms come to be?
Chris Ball: I was indicted in 2010 for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. I pled out for three years. After I got out, I worked at Abercrombie & Fitch at 30, with a Berkeley degree. Ate my humble pie. Then Nike headhunted me, I moved to Vegas, worked NFL accounts. But I wasn’t happy. I’d been an inner-city kid, athlete, fast life—and corporate America just didn’t fit.
Four years later, I quit. Took my savings, moved back to California, and got a 14-light grow. A guy from the past owed me money—he gave me the lights. I tried to do it legally, Prop D compliant. I got caregiver signatures and contracts with compliant dispensaries. But I wasn’t a great grower yet.
That first year, I didn’t even get a harvest. Burned through savings just keeping the lights on. But it finally clicked. I supported myself that way for years. Then in 2018, my landlord told me about L.A.’s social equity program. I applied, not expecting anything. Three months later, I got an email: I had a license. Ball Family Farms was born that day.
C&T Today: What stood out about First Draft during pheno hunting? What made it special?
Chris Ball: If it doesn’t meet our growth timelines—10–14 day veg, 63-day flower—it doesn’t make the cut. Then we check looks, smell, texture. Once it passes all that, we do the smoke test. If it’s fire, it goes in the box for collaborators like Lena. Even if it’s not our style, we include it—because everyone has a different palette.
C&T Today: Finally, how does First Draft reflect Ball Family Farms’ mission?
Chris Ball: It reflects everything we stand for. Even though it’s a collab, it still comes from the Ball Family Farms machine. If we send it to someone, it’s already passed our quality control. If Lena doesn’t pick it, we might name it something else and release it ourselves—but nothing leaves this building unless it represents us. That’s our standard. It’s family stewardship. It’s integrity.
