Ep.15: Matt Michnovetz- Bivalves, Bloody Marys and the Force

Up to this point, our interviews have been with people who either live on Block Island year-round or spend the majority of the summer here. In this episode, we talk with a frequent visitor who at the time of this interview was in the middle of a two week stay during September 2020- his longest sojourn on the island to date.A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away Matt Michnovetz saw Star Wars for the first time. Years later when a number of his high school friends (including TGOBI host, Marc Scortino) began migrating to Block Island for summer work, Matt became a regular visitor to the island. While some of his buddies remained entrenched in the Block Island community, Matt followed his dreams to Hollywood where after much persistence he became a staff writer on the television show 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland. While at 24, a chance encounter with Star Wars producer Rick McCallum led to Matt being asked up to Skywalker Ranch to meet George Lucas and interview for a writing position on the animated series The Clone Wars. He got the gig. Since then he's also worked on another Star Wars animated series, Rebels, and one of 2020's biggest video game releases, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. And that's just the Star Wars stuff. Matt's a busy guy who knows how to hustle in Hollywood. But that's got to be exhausting, right? Spoiler alert: it is.So when Matty Mich (as he's known in LA LA Land) needs to unwind- he looks forward to visiting Block Island. Matt's developed an affinity for bivalves, crustaceans and Bloody Marys. In fact, one might call him a connoisseur. And he's got his favorite island spots where he indulges in these habits. He'll tell you all about them. Matt gets into the other things he loves about Block Island and why he makes a point to return here from Los Angeles at least once a year. I know, I know- but what about the Star Wars stuff? Look- we tried to pry some secrets out of him but Matty Mich isn't spilling the beans on any deep-dive, hardcore stuff that Star Wars fans fill discussion boards with. What we do get though is a funny, up-close and personal look at what it takes to make it and then survive in Hollywood as a writer. Spoiler alert #2: it's a tough racket! So sit back- grab a Bloody Mary, some clams and a lightsaber and prepare to make the jump to light speed as we talk with one of Block Island's "pro-level" visitors.What? Are you frozen in carbonite? Drop that blaster and hit, "PLAY", Cap'!