 In 1962 he created a puppet animation for the short film "Small but Mine" ( Malé ale moje), and special effects with stretchable puppets for the film "40 Granddads" (Čtyřicet dědečků)

Throughout the 1970s Štěpánek worked at Krátký Film Praha studio, creating many film projects with Břetislav Pojar and Jiří Šalamoun.His contribution to these films was uncredited until 2002, when he won the Andrej Stankovič Prize for best Czech film annual achievement for this work.One of the better known works from this time is an animated series about two bears, "Hey Mister, Let's Play!