[citation needed] He is an honors graduate of New York University's School of Film/TV and the receipt of the Martin Scorsese Award for "Excellence in Directing".

In 1998, Newman's short film Bitten by Love won the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award while he was a student at New York University.

He reteamed with director Jeremy Coon and Fanboys scribe Adam F. Goldberg to produce A Disturbance in the Force, a documentary about the making of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

2018 saw the release of his first book Art & Arcana: A Visual History via Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House in association with Wizards of the Coast.

[3] Newman's second book Heroes' Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook published in October 2020 by Ten Speed Press/Penguin Random House in association with Wizards of the Coast, reunited the author team and became a New York Times bestseller and was adapted into a cooking show titled Heroes' Feast for Hasbro.

Dungeons & Dragons: Lore & Legends tells the story of D&D's 5th Edition and Heroes' Feast: Flavors of the Multiverse is the planet-hopping follow-up cookbook.