In his first few postgraduate years, he was the editor of New Theater Magazine and cameraman and co-writer of the acclaimed film The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936), among others.
The League, created in March 1930, included directors and photographers such as Paul Strand, Irving Lerner, Willard Van Dyke, Ralph Steiner, Lionel Berman, Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers, Jay Leyda, and Lewis Jacobs.
Hurwitz joined with a few other members of the League to create Nykino, an organization that strove to use artistic measures to appeal to audiences while still conveying a meaningful message.
[1] In the 1950s and 1960s, while blacklisted for his strong left-wing political beliefs, Hurwitz continued to work as an independent film maker and, without credit, co-produced, directed and edited several segments for the Omnibus series on CBS.
[1][3] In 1961, Hurwitz directed the television coverage of the Adolf Eichmann trial in Jerusalem for producer Milton Fruchtman and Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation, including the summary documentary Verdict for Tomorrow.
[5] In the 2015 BBC television film The Eichmann Show, a dramatization of the trial and making of Verdict for Tomorrow, Hurwitz was played by Anthony LaPaglia.
From 1964 to 1966 he made a group of films for National Educational Television, including Essay on Death, dealing with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, The Sun and Richard Lippold and In Search of Hart Crane.
His work has been the subject of several retrospectives showings, including ones at the Museum of Modern Art, the Public Theater and the Cinemathique Francaise in Paris.
[1] As Director: As (Co-)Producer: As Cinematographer: In the 2015 British drama film The Eichmann Show, Anthony LaPaglia portrayed Leo Hurwitz.