Fortunately, no drastic measures were required. He was sitting in a West Village café when Campbell Scott walked in and sat at neighboring table. Though Kidd had not originally considered Scott for the role, he knew that the actor would be perfect, so Kidd approached him cold. Scott not only agreed to read the script, he called three weeks later to discuss the role. After taking the part, Scott brought on board some talented friends of his own: Isabelli Rossellini and Jennifer Beals for starters. Three months later, Kidd found himself at the helm of his own independent film. "I was so lucky," Kidd says.

In the ten years following film school, Kidd held a variety of jobs to stay afloat: real-estate broker, doorman, janitor at a tennis club, the guy on the set lugging the cameras, short order cook, waiter, coffee-maker, personal caretaker. With the success of "Roger Dodger"--the film has already received the Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival and screened at the Toronto Film Festival--hopefully Kidd can concentrate on the only job for him: making movies.

"I'd love to work with Natalie Portman," Kidd said. "Her talent has never been fully tapped."