[6] In 1982, Levin and his father, Al, teamed up on Portrait of an American Zealot which was made part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent film collection.

In 1989, Levin was awarded a writing Emmy for the WCBS TV Special New York Non-Stop as well as a nomination for Outstanding Magazine Show (Non-News).

In the late nineties Levin created a hip-hop trilogy beginning with Slam, a searing prison drama, which starred Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn, and Bonz Malone.

In 2000, Levin directed Whiteboyz, a comedy about white kids who want to be black rappers, starred Danny Hoch, Dash Mihok, Mark Webber, and Piper Perabo.

Levin's Street Time, a 2002 television series produced by Columbia/Tristar for Showtime, received critical acclaim for its authenticity and cinéma vérité style.

[12][13] Scorsese recruited an international team of directors with both feature and documentary experience - Charles Burnett,[14] Clint Eastwood,[15] Mike Figgis,[16] Richard Pearce[17] and Wim Wenders.

[21] It tells the true-life story of a real American Gangster from the point of view of law enforcement, associates, and Nicky Barnes, who appears for the first time in over a quarter century.

In the same year he executive produced the indie feature documentary Captured, the story of artist activist Clayton Patterson, the man who videotaped the 1988 Tompkins Square Park Riot and who has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City's Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds.

Levin continued his 20-year working relationship with HBO: Hard Times: Lost on Long Island[33] in 2011, Prayer for a Perfect Season[34] in 2012 and Class Divide in 2015.