The 2025 Annual North Fork TV Festival had many outstanding winners. One was the festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary by giving Christopher Meloni its “Canopy” award. Another winner was Raye Levine, who, although originally from Brooklyn, is also a fixture in the performing arts on the East End along with her husband, Sawyer Spielberg. They summer in East Hampton Village.
She was the winner for co-writing, “The Fortune Teller’s Daughter,” an original TV pilot, with Krista Donargo. In an on-site live interview with Hamptons.com, Raye explained, “I attended this festival about six years ago, and funny enough, I met my writing partner (Krista Donargo) here. We had attended the same acting school (William Esper Studio). We set out to write a show that we wanted to see made, and when we joined creative forces, it came to life right away.”
The two writers moved to New Orleans together to finish the pilot because it takes place there and in New York. Raye said, “There’s quite a bit of magical realism in our show, and that speaks to the origins of the making of it— there were a lot of serendipities along the way, and it’s been so fun to build out the world of the show together. And now I feel like we have come full circle, being back here (at NF TV Festival). The past few years we spent developing it, and then COVID hit, and we continued to work on it over Zoom, held readings, etc., and then went to New Orleans to finish it. We’ve really fallen in love with these characters. We’ve had some wins along the way: got into the final round of Sundance TV labs, Gotham Week, Series Mania Fest, and now we’re pitching it with A Touch More (Megan Rappinoe and Sue Bird’s production company) and Heroes and Villains Entertainment (Kim Veasey). We decided to submit it to the NF TV Fest this year because it was finally fully formed and the timing was right.”
She said from the beginning they had “very strong opinions on the characters and the developments of what they go through and the reveals and all that stuff.” Adding she and Ms. Donargo had, “A certain amount of flexibility, I would say, an adaptability because whatever studio takes it on, we want the collaboration and that process to happen organically. So if a studio comes on and it’s like, this needs to be 22 episodes. Okay, great, we can work with that. The show is super layered and definitely has the bandwidth for multiple seasons. It was clear to us that this had to be a television series from the get-go (and not a feature film or limited series).”
Raye Levine Spielberg also has had some recent success on Broadway. She and her production partner, J.T. Tsou, were invited to the Tonys this year because they were co-producers on ‘Operation Mince Meat.’ She explained, “We were a part of the transfer to Broadway from the West End (England). It was going into its third year, playing at the West End at the Fortune Theater and had won six Olivier awards, including Best New Musical.” Then the show came to Broadway. Raye said, “This show is so special. It’s so impactful, so moving, beautiful, layered, funny, and the physical comedy is out of this world. So, we fell in love with it, and it was a no-brainer to get on board. We won one out of the four Tonys that we were nominated for.”
Then there is Raye and husband Sawyer’s Holiday 2023 released movie, “Merry Good Enough.” They both star in it. Affectionately, she calls it a “Dysfunctional family dramedy, directed by Caroline Keen and Dan Kennedy. Available on Amazon, Apple, and on all of the places that you would stream or watch movies. “It is a juicy slice of life that happens to take place during Christmas and all of the emotions that run high during that time, when reuniting with family, as an adult child.”
Also, there is her production company. She explains, “I started a production company with JT Tsou. It’s called LEFT NO RING. (Shakespeare reference, in honor of our theatre roots and love for theatre). JT Tsou is a writer, producer, director, and I’m an actor, producer, and writer. Nolan Burke is a friend and a very talented producer who is also joining our LNR team.
I am very excited about a few of the projects that we are producing on our slate, and of course, some juicy acting opportunities coming my way, some that I’m helping create. I just love the whole creative process, want to build my credits, and gain as much experience as I can. If I could act on set every day, I would be happy, but I also love to see projects come to life. We’re filming a short film next month that I have a really great role in.” About directing? She said, “When it comes to the right project, I would consider it because I do have a strong visual sensibility, but I prefer to act in a project and creatively produce it, and bring it to life.”
Triple threat “actor-writer-producer,” Raye Levine Spielberg, obviously has a bright future in the performing arts.
