Hulu’s new 4/20 anthology series includes a documentary on High Times and its founder. Director Kyle Thrash tells High Times why he came looking for a human story, not a nostalgia piece, and found one that still feels unresolved.
Dana Beal is 78 years old, standing in a courtroom in Gooding County, Idaho, facing a felony possession charge after authorities say they found 56 pounds of cannabis in his vehicle during a January traffic stop on Interstate 84. The charge carries up to five years and a $15,000 fine. Before the proceedings move forward, he turns toward the camera.
“I want to tell you a story about my friend Tom before I have to go to jail.”
He means Tom Forçade. Beal has since been incarcerated. The story he wanted on the record is what the film is about.
Director Kyle Thrash, whose film is part of Jimmy Kimmel’s four-part Hulu anthology 4X20: Quick Hits, did not come to this story looking for a 4/20 content drop. He came looking for that man.
“This is someone that the world should know about,” Thrash tells High Times, “someone who, unfortunately, has been lost to history for the general public.”
The series itself grew out of a conversation between Kimmel and executive producer Scott Lonker, who had previously worked with Hulu on a six-part docuseries about a cannabis dispensary in Hollywood that launched on 4/20 and reached number one on the streamer’s most-watched list. When Hulu passed on continuing that series, the door stayed open for something new.
“Jimmy and I started talking and landed on the idea of doing four separate documentaries, each around 20 minutes,” Lonker tells High Times, “and using 4/20 as the marketing hook to frame the whole thing.” The runtime was intentional. “We liked the symmetry of using the ’20’ in 4/20 as the …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
