Dana grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and is a summa cum laude graduate of UCLA.
Stevens did an uncredited rewrite on The World Is Not Enough, directed by her then-husband Michael Apted, primarily to strengthen the female characters' roles.
[1][2] She was the last female screenwriter involved with writing a Bond film until Phoebe Waller-Bridge provided a script polish to No Time to Die in 2019.
[3][4][5] She is a regular advisor at the Sundance Institute writer and filmmaker labs, and serves on the final selection committee for the Academy's Nicholl's Fellowship Screenwriting Award.
Stevens and director Michael Apted were married for 10 years before divorcing, and the couple have a son.