Lena Waithe’s Creative Pivot: The End of The Chi and the Bold New Chapter for Hillman Grad Productions
The End of an Era and the Dawn of a New Creative Focus
Emmy-winning writer, producer, and actor Lena Waithe is arguably one of the most transformative voices in modern entertainment, consistently carving out space for marginalized stories and emerging creators. As the industry prepares to turn the calendar, the conversation surrounding Waithe has reached a fever pitch, centered on two massive professional developments: the impending conclusion of her landmark series, The Chi, and a dramatic restructuring of her influential production company, Hillman Grad Productions.
The confluence of these two events signals a profound creative and professional pivot for the mogul, moving her away from the demands of running a large-scale media enterprise and back toward the pure creative endeavors that first brought her to prominence. For fans and industry observers alike, it’s a moment of both nostalgia for the closing chapter of a critically acclaimed drama and immense anticipation for the stories Waithe will champion next.
The Chi Takes Its Final Bow: Celebrating a Groundbreaking Legacy
In a move that reverberated across the television landscape, Paramount+ with Showtime announced on October 1, 2025, that Waithe’s groundbreaking drama series, The Chi, will conclude with its forthcoming eighth season. While the news comes with the sadness of saying goodbye to the beloved characters of Chicago’s South Side, it also serves as a capstone on an unprecedented run in television history. The Chi has not only been a critical success but, more importantly, a cultural phenomenon, offering a nuanced, complex, and humanizing portrait of a community often reduced to headlines and statistics.
Season 7 of the series broke significant records, scoring two million cross-platform viewers for its premiere and becoming the most-streamed season debut in the show’s history. This peak performance underscores the power of the show’s storytelling and the loyal “Chi Family” audience it cultivated over nearly a decade. The Season 7 run, which focused on the women of the South Side reclaiming their power, ended with its finale on August 1st, 2025, setting the stage for the highly anticipated final season.
In her statement on the show’s conclusion, Waithe, a Chicago native, framed the decision as a creative choice made with purpose. “When I created The Chi, it wasn’t just about making a TV show — it was about owning our narratives and telling our stories with truth, care, nuance and complexity,” she explained. She acknowledged the weight of the moment, noting, “To helm the longest-running Black drama on television is a huge honor and it’s something I don’t take lightly”. The series achieved this monumental status in 2024 when it surpassed Empire (which ran for six seasons), cementing its place as the longest-running Black scripted drama on American television.
Waithe’s commitment is to deliver a final season that is worthy of its legacy, stating, “After much reflection, we have made the decision to end The Chi with Season 8. I know, for the sake of our story and our characters, it’s the right thing. I am committed to delivering a final season that our Chi Family deserves”. Production on the final season is slated to begin in early 2026, meaning the final chapter of the show will be a major fixture on the entertainment calendar next year.
Hillman Grad’s Strategic Downsizing: Getting Back to the ‘Creative’
The second, and perhaps more telling, development in Waithe’s evolving career landscape is the strategic transformation of Hillman Grad Productions. Announced in June 2025, Waithe made the decision to significantly scale back the full-service media company to refocus on her core creative roles as a writer, producer, and performer.
For seven years, Hillman Grad—co-founded with CEO Rishi Rajani—had been an engine for change, championing a wide array of projects across multiple platforms, from the feature film Queen & Slim (2019) to the Amazon horror anthology Them. However, the economic shifts in Hollywood, combined with Waithe’s desire to concentrate her energy, necessitated a change. The restructuring resulted in the departure of much of the company’s executive staff, including CEO Rishi Rajani and Head of Development Naomi Funabashi.
This shift is a calculated move to prioritize creative output over corporate management. As Waithe noted earlier in 2024, the business has changed, and it can be easy to “lose sight of the creative, and it can be about commerce”. By shedding the operational weight of a large-scale media company, Waithe is signaling a return to the ethos that originally defined Hillman Grad: an exclusive focus on creating art that “goes against the status quo”.
While the company will no longer be the sprawling media hub it once was, its commitment to mentorship will continue, primarily through the Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab, which has been instrumental in providing industry access to underrepresented storytellers. The future of its other acclaimed talent incubator, Rising Voices—a partnership with Indeed that has invested over $10 million into BIPOC filmmakers—remains a key focus, with Season 5 filmmakers set to premiere their shorts in June 2025.
The Future: A Focus on the Stage and New Narrative Forms
Waithe’s decision to move out of the C-suite and back into the writer’s room and onto the stage is already manifesting in a slate of exciting new projects that represent a diversification of her portfolio:
-
Broadway and Theater: Waithe is making a concerted effort to break into the world of theater, an aspiration she has previously voiced. Upcoming projects include a collaboration with the legendary Debbie Allen on a Broadway-bound musical adaptation of the Disney film Polly. Even more personally significant is Trinity, a play that she not only wrote but will also make her on-stage acting debut in, set to premiere at Baltimore Center Stage from February 12 to March 28, 2026. This return to the stage underscores her desire to explore narratives outside of the traditional film and television format, a move she sees as “in a way, of the future,” favoring smaller, affordable, and impactful theater.
-
New TV and Film Projects: Despite the Hillman Grad restructuring, Waithe remains a prolific producer and writer. She is focusing on her existing deal with Paramount+ and Showtime and her multi-year development deal with Warner Bros. TV Group. The latter deal includes a highly anticipated scripted series based on the seminal sports documentary Hoop Dreams, an appropriate project given her deep ties to Chicago. She is also attached to new film projects, including the drama Place To Be, alongside Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi.
-
The Power Couple Spotlight: On a personal note, Waithe’s relationship with her partner, acclaimed singer and actor Cynthia Erivo, continues to garner attention, particularly as Erivo takes on a massive role in the two-part film adaptation of the musical Wicked. The two have been spotlighted as one of Hollywood’s most influential LGBTQ+ power couples, a narrative that has recently resurfaced in entertainment news cycles, especially with the second Wicked film, Wicked: For Good, set for release on November 21, 2025 [cite: 8, 3, 6, 9 (original search)]. Waithe’s public support of Erivo has added a layer of personal triumph to her professional journey [cite: 5 (original search)].
Ultimately, the convergence of The Chi‘s conclusion and the Hillman Grad restructuring marks a defining inflection point. Lena Waithe is intentionally closing one chapter of success to open another—one focused less on the scale of her operation and more on the singularity and personal passion behind her voice. It’s a calculated risk in a volatile industry, but one that promises to deliver an even more artistically fearless and personally resonant body of work.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Why is The Chi ending after Season 8?
A: According to creator Lena Waithe’s statement in October 2025, the decision to end The Chi after Season 8 was a conscious creative choice. She stated, “I know, for the sake of our story and our characters, it’s the right thing,” and that she is committed to delivering a proper final season that the fans deserve. It concludes the series as the longest-running Black drama on American television.
Q2: What is the significance of the Hillman Grad Productions restructuring?
A: The restructuring, announced in June 2025, involves scaling back Hillman Grad from a full-service media company to a production banner focused solely on creative endeavors. This pivot allows Lena Waithe to step away from the executive management of a large company and return to her primary roles as a creator, writer-producer, and performer, emphasizing storytelling over large-scale commerce.
Q3: What are Lena Waithe’s next major projects after The Chi?
A: Waithe has several projects in development, with a notable shift toward theater. Her upcoming work includes a Broadway-bound musical adaptation of the Disney film Polly with Debbie Allen, and her own original play Trinity, in which she will make her on-stage acting debut in 2026. She is also working on a scripted series adaptation of the classic documentary Hoop Dreams for Warner Bros. TV Group.
Read More:
This Post Has 0 Comments