A writer and an actor who chose the same work

Philip Levens and Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens have spent their careers in the same industry, on opposite sides of the camera, and now often on the same page. He is a television writer, producer, and showrunner, the creator of the Syfy limited series Ascension and a writer-producer on Smallville. She is an actor, writer, producer, and acting coach whose credits include Lionsgate’s Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, the TNT drama Agent X, and ABC’s Castle. They married on July 27, 2019, in Napa Valley, and in 2026 they made a new home in Naples, Florida.

The facts of their professional lives are a matter of public record. What has been quieter, until recently, is the partnership that runs through them.

Philip Levens: stories built to reach the screen

Philip Levens grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and studied at the University of Texas at Austin before moving to Los Angeles. Over three decades he has written and produced series for the major studios and networks, among them Smallville for The WB and The CW, South Beach for UPN and Paramount, Wolf Lake, Night Visions, and NBC’s Knight Rider. He created, wrote, and served as showrunner of Ascension for Syfy, Universal, and Lionsgate, executive producing the limited series alongside Jason Blum.

His own site describes a career spent turning original ideas into stories that survive the system and reach the screen. He has sold more than twenty pilots and developed projects with Sony, Warner Bros., Universal, Disney, Lionsgate, Marvel, and Imagine. Those credits are why many viewers first search his name. They are also the foundation he brings to the work he now does with Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens.

Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens: from Minneapolis to the studio lot

Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She began modeling as a teenager and moved to Los Angeles when she was cast in MTV’s Undressed. As an actor she has appeared in studio films and network television, including the role of Sarah in Love & Mercy, Eli Morrison in Grey Lady for Lionsgate and Starz, and a recurring role on Agent X, the TNT action drama starring Sharon Stone. Her other television appearances include Castle, Glory Daze, Cold Case, and Cracking Up. Early film work includes the Farrelly brothers’ Stuck on You and Emilio Estevez’s Bobby.

She has also built a writing and producing career of her own. She created, wrote, and sold the pilot The Vintage to Beacon Pictures and the pilot Nightlife to eOne. She wrote and executive produced Carry the World, based on the stage play, and she has continued to develop material through her company, Big Rock Entertainment. In recent years she has added another role that draws directly on her time on set: founding Red Carpet Acting Studio and teaching a method she later expanded into the online course The Secret to Acting.

One marriage, one writing room

Philip Levens and Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens were married on July 27, 2019. The ceremony was held at Saint Helena Catholic Church in St. Helena, California; guests later celebrated at an outdoor reception at Harvest Inn in Napa Valley, a day later featured by California Wedding Day. The couple’s own sites still carry a film from the wedding, and the date is recorded on IMDb.

The marriage quickly became a professional collaboration as well. In 2019 the two were hired to write the potential television series Menace of Venice for Todd Garner’s Broken Road Productions. That November, during the Austin Film Festival, they sat together for an interview on The Unstuck Creative and talked about how they work as a team, how they keep the fire in a project, and how they move on when a dream has to wait. Carolyn’s official biography still lists Menace of Venice among the work she is writing with her husband.

A new chapter in Naples

After more than two decades in California, Philip Levens and Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens purchased a home in Naples, Florida. In a July 20, 2026, feature for Fox Business, they described how the city claimed them: Philip drove the Gulf Coast, turned toward the beach in downtown Naples, and called Carolyn to say this was where they were going to live. She remembered the FaceTime from the sand, the architecture, and the colors. “It just really called to us,” she said.

The move did not require them to set their careers aside. Television writing and producing can be done from a quiet Gulf Coast city as surely as from a lot in Los Angeles, and Carolyn’s coaching already reaches students online. What changed is the setting in which the work happens. Their professional sites now list both cities. The more accurate public record is that Philip Levens and Carolyn Stotesbery-Levens live in Naples, and that they are still, first and last, people who tell stories — together.