Sandel was born and raised in Calabasas, California, the son of Kathy (Hale) and Dan Sandel.[4] His father is Israeli and his mother is American. He is Jewish.[5] He studied Media Arts at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he also received a special certificate in Middle Eastern Studies. He went on to earn his Directing MFA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema–Television. West Bank Story premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has screened at over one hundred fifty film festivals worldwide, winning prizes from 30.
In 2015, Sandel's feature film directorial debut, teen comedy The DUFF, was released in theaters.
Sandel directed the horror comedy sequel Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, which began filming in February 2018, and which was released in October of that year.[6]