Though he felt out of place for most of the first year in Long Beach, he eventually became student body president of his high school, claiming he ran because one of the perks of office was to crown and kiss the homecoming queen.
After a year in Madrid, Chitlik migrated to London where he worked as a translator, photographer, and journalist for several years after the traditional writer’s series of jobs – stock boy in a deli, baker, house cleaner, house painter, and, eventually consultant for famed publisher Calder & Boyars.
During this time he was also on the board of directors of La Escuela Laboral, a bilingual school for adults in East Los Angeles, and the Human Powered Transit Association, a bicycle advocacy group.
In 1984 he wrote his second play, “Casanova Goldberg,” which received a staged reading in Los Angeles, but before it could be produced, Chitlik did a career about-face and began to write for television, first as the executive story editor for a syndicated series, "Guilty or Innocent," and later as a staff writer with writing partner, Jeremy Bertrand Finch, for the Showtime series,"Brothers."
In 2009, he produced the first Hollywood Disabilities Forum featuring Peter Farrelly and Ricky Gervais at UCLA, under the auspices of the WGA and the Screen Actors Guild.
When The Twilight Zone was revived for syndication, Chitlik and Finch were brought on board by Executive Producer Mark Shelmerdine to set the direction and tone of the program as story editors.
Chitlik and Finch won a Writers Guild of America award nomination for one of the "Twilight Zone" episodes they wrote during this time.
[2][3] Chitlik and Finch developed "Poltergeist" for television for a partnership of MGM, Paragon Pictures, and ARD Television of Germany; sold a romantic comedy to Bay Productions of Vancouver; created a sit-com for Republic Pictures; wrote a pilot for "Lifetime;" and developed "Alcohol Lake," a story of hope and cultural re-awakening of Native Americans, with KCET for American Playhouse.
Chitlik went on to be coordinating producer for “Real Stories of the Highway Patrol,” one of the most successful first run daily strip programs on television.
He has also written features for a number of independent companies including Promark Entertainment, Nu Image, and Mainline Releasing, one of which won a Genesis Award for outstanding children’s movie.