Irving began his career as a screenwriter, director and producer of movies. He also directed numerous theatrical plays. He then moved on to writing and directing documentary shorts. He co-wrote the textbook Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video along with Peter W. Rea.[3] The book is the only text on short film creation to focus on the importance of symbiosis between producer and director. It was originally released in 1995, and is in its 5th edition as of 2019. In 2008, it was announced that he would serve as head of NYU's Tisch Asia graduate film department.[4] In 2010, Irving wrote another textbook entitled Fundamentals of Film Directing.[5] In 2011, he published another textbook entitled Elements of College Teaching. He served as the chair of New York University's Tisch School of Arts Film and Television program for both the undergraduate and graduate schools for over seven years.[4] He then wrote a novel, Sleep 101: The Odd Rise of Doctor Louise Pond, PhD,[6] which explores the inner workings of academia. This was followed up with Sleep 201: The Further Adventures of Dr. Louise Pond and Sleep 301: Dr. Louise Pond and the Spunky Monkey.
As of 2019, Irving works as an associate professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2007, he received the NYU David Payne Carter Award for Teaching Excellence.