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All it took for Steve Chriest was a walk with his wife, Nancy, along a trail near their Danville home. Little did Chriest realize at that time that the routine stroll would have the potential to change his life.
“As we were walking along the path, I happened to look down, and found this unusual-looking rock among this bed of rocks,” Chriest said. “So I reached down and picked it up and put it in my pocket.”
That was in 2010. To Chriest, the rock’s shape resembled a computer mouse. He didn’t really know what to do with it at that moment, so when he got home, he put the rock on a shelf in his office and proceeded to forget about it for six months.
That’s when a bright idea came to Chriest. But, by then, and unbeknownst to him, his wife had taken the rock and placed it in the garden where she felt it belonged.
Looking all over the house for the rock, Chriest asked his wife if she’d seen it. Worried, she couldn’t remember where she’d put it. Then one day, Chriest found his prized find on his desk.
Enter the “Stone Mouse”.
Much like the very popular Pet Rock frenzy of the 1970s, Chriest had an idea for his stone. “I had an idea that this rock could represent the first computer mouse ever in the world,” he explained. “So, I came up with a story and it included a reporter character by the name of Ted Nugget.”
Chriest developed a website — www.stonemouse.com — to tell the story of his amazing discovery. There, in addition to the Nugget character, he also introduced an archaeologist by the name of Dirk Diggum.
“Ted took on a life of his own, and then I developed the character with another website, a news website for ‘American Network Television.'”
Soon, Nugget became Chriest’s alter ego of sorts. Chriest got into character – fake moustache, slicked-back coif and a necktie that appears to be prematurely shorter than it should be.
He then purchased a video camera, a teleprompter, green Chromakey screen and other equipment so that he could begin videotaping himself in his office as Nugget. With a little Hollywood magic, the green Chromakey screen would be transformed into the image of a network news studio, much like viewers see on CNN.
Almost immediately, a star was born.
Chriest, as anchorman Nugget, has churned out humorous short video commentaries on topics from mortgages and mortgage lending to scientific topics and Lady Gaga. So far, Chriest has written, produced and appeared in 14 three-minute videos.
At 62, the Danville resident and San Mateo native has worked in business for decades and has, for the most part, led a proper straight-and-narrow life. He is an independent sales consultant who typically works with large companies in a variety of industries, including health care, online media, biotechnology and manufacturing.
But after Nugget burrowed into Chriest’s head, writing a screenplay about the flustered Nugget seemed like the next logical step. At times during the interview for this story, it seemed that Chriest could identify or become interchangeable with the Nugget character, though he would be the first to deny it.
“I was encouraged by some friends of Ted (remember, Ted is not real) to make a movie about him. I contacted D.B. Gilles, of New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts, and he agreed to consult with me while I wrote the screenplay.”
The screenplay centers on Nugget, a bumbling San Francisco television reporter (picture Det. Columbo with a microphone and reporter’s notebook) who falls into the business by accident. Nugget started his life in an auspicious way — he was born with an identical twin. The two are together for the first few years of their lives, but then become separated.
The two eventually reunite later in life, but at a time when both fall in love with a New York-based network television reporter named Zoe Fox. Despite being a love triangle story, the as yet untitled script uses offbeat humor and many plot twists to keep the audience on their feet.
“I wanted something physical to contribute to Ted’s image,” he said, adding that Nugget is somewhat of a caricature of himself. “I wanted to make him be a goofy-looking character. All I could come up with was a necktie. What if I turned a necktie into a bowtie, but without turning it into a bowtie?”
After completing the script in December, Chriest must decide whether he can pursue making this screenplay into an independent film, or, if he should secure an agent to assist him with it.
“If we make the film, I’d like to have it completed by the end of the year,” Chriest explained. “Pre-production would take about six to eight weeks, and production about 30 days. Post-production would take three to four months.”
Before the screenplay can one day appear on the big screen, Chriest must come up with financing for his project. He knows it is not an easy process, but he is steadfast and remains confident about his idea, which evolved from the rock he and his wife found on that trail near their home two years ago.
