After two other notable screenplays for Swing Shift and Mrs. Soffel, he gave his directorial debut with The Prince of Pennsylvania in 1988, a film with Keanu Reeves and Fred Ward.

After several years of working for television, he wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film The Painted Veil, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham.

In 2015, Nyswaner directed the documentary film She's the Best Thing in It, featuring Mary Louise Wilson, which he coproduced along with Jeffrey Schwarz and Neda Armian.

[5] Nyswaner created the historical drama miniseries Fellow Travelers in 2023, which won a Peabody Award[6] at the 84th ceremony in 2024.

As a director As a writer In 2004, he published Blue Days, Black Nights: A Memoir, which chronicles his relationship with alcohol, drugs, and hustlers.