His older sister, Mary Ann, was killed in a car accident when Ball was 13; he was in the passenger seat at the time.

[3][4] After college, Ball began work as a playwright at the General Nonsense Theater Company in Sarasota, Florida.

[5] Ball broke into television as a writer and story editor on the sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Cybill.

[6] Ball wrote two film scripts that ended up in development hell prior to American Beauty (1999).

[14] Starring Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter,[15][16] the show was cancelled in April 2018 after one ten-episode season.