Career
![[icon]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (April 2026) |
Sztykiel made his screenwriting debut with the 2008 romantic comedy film Made of Honor. After writing other films, his writing for television started under the mentorship of long-time sitcom writer and producer Bill Lawrence, who was executive producer of Undateable (2014–2016), which Sztykiel had created. Undateable is a notable project in that in the third season all thirteen episodes were recorded live. Each live episode was recorded twice, one taping airing live on the east coast, and a second live taping for the west coast. Sztykiel noted that between the east coast and west coasting airings he would be rewriting the script for the next broadcast.
In 2018, Sztykiel and his wife, podcaster Ellie Knaus, sold a comedy to ABC entitled Because Kids. The comedy was inspired by Knaus' podcast Atomic Moms. The series did not move beyond the development stage, Sztykiel and Knaus reunited creatively when they developed a feature in 2024.
In 2020, Sztykiel was hired to write and executive produce the film Scoob! from Warner Brothers. Two years later, in 2022, he was hired to write an early draft for the superhero film Black Adam. Neither of these films were received well by critics, with both films falling below 50% approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
In February 2022, it was announced that Sztykiel would be making his directorial debut with a script he wrote for the HBO Max live-action superhero film Wonder Twins, based on the DC Comics characters of the same name; in May 2022, just weeks before the July start of filming, HBO Max owner Warner Bros. Discovery cancelled the project. In April 2024, it was announced that he would be making his directorial debut with a comedy film. He would also once again team up with his wife to co-write the film. The film was called Let's Have Kids! and was released digitally in October 2026.
