by Brian Abrams

    A chance encounter with actor Campbell Scott turned a writer's life around.

    After graduating from NYU Film School in 1991, Dylan Kidd spent the next decade loa ding film for photographer Joaquin Baca-Asay.

    In the meantime, he wrote three screenplays. Two years ago, he sculpted Roger Dodger, a dark but hilarious story about an on-the-rebound Manhattan playboy (Roger) who mentors his nephew Nick through an evening of drinking and girls.

    Throughout the night, we witness Roger's falling into a pitiful sorrow, and his smooth-talking works against him. Meanwhile, his tongue-tied pubescent pupil lets loose and learns from his sex-crazed uncle's antics.

    If you blinked last October, you probably missed this low-radar independent; however, Kidd and his talented cast managed to turn heads in the industry with this hip and insightful work.

    "You know, the other two [screenplays] ... I never really solved them," Kidd said, talking about his writings.

    "I finished a couple of drafts and just put them aside because I didn't feel they were strong enough," he said.

    Kidd would only commit to writings he firmly believed in 100 percent.

    "It took me a long time to write the script that I really felt like 'Okay I could fight for this,'" he said.

    After writing Roger Dodger, Kidd carried the script under his arm everywhere, in the hopes of scoring the perfect lead and then asking producers for financial backing.

    "We needed a break, desperately, because living in New York you run into celebrities pretty often, so I figured, okay, what the hell. It would be crazy to find myself standing in line next to, you know, Ed Norton and not have a copy of the script with me."

    Having originally envisioned Norton and others for the lead role, Kidd never intended to stumble upon actor Campbell Scott in a cafe.

    After Scott had read the script and accepted the role of Roger, he became a godsend. Scott extended a helpful hand and landed prominent actresses Jennifer Beals and Isabella Rossellini for roles in the film.

    "He's just a different kind of guy. He could have gone on to do bigger studio stuff, and he really made a choice to stay on the East coast. People like that are the reason why movies get made."

    Kidd continually sings his praises for his run-in with the gracious actor. "You need somebody who's gutsy enough to take a script that's offered to them cold and actually follow through and read it and say 'you know what, screw it, this guy's a first-time director, but let's take a chance!'" he said.

    "Whenever I see him, it's just this bizarre feeling of like, 'if not for this man, I would still be working in a video store.'"

    Although humble and surrounded by well-known stars, Kidd still pushed for the necessary evils.

    Roger's character is a man about town. He downs rum and Cokes, surreptitiously gawks at women and is a chronic chain smoker.

    Scott's personal likings are quite the opposite, but Kidd wouldn't have it any other way. Roger's wild-man ways were essential to the movie.

    "I really felt like, narratively, it was an important thing that this guy literally be blowing out smoke.

    "The problem is that Campbell, this total health nut vegan, never touches tobacco. We had to make these special herbal cigarettes. He was taking one for the team, there, and he was miserable. Every scene he'd be like, 'I don't have to smoke,' and I'm like, 'Yes, you do.'"

    Jesse Eisenberg's character, Nick, was remotely built around one of Kidd's family members.

    Kidd's younger brother gave inspiration to the computer-nerd nephew with the common teenage social anxieties.

    "There's a certain age where you really feel like there's somebody out there that can tell you. There's a rulebook that I don't have access to, and I need an adult male, but, unfortunately, no one can help you. Everybody's off on their own."

    Roger is a composite of people Kidd has known. Kidd said Scott had a hard time relating to the audacious bachelor.

    "He really felt like this character was over the top, and I would just keep saying, 'look, trust me; these people are out there. They exist.'"

    Kidd's instincts were right. "It's been nice that we go to a festival and people come up and say, 'I know that guy!' or 'I dated that guy!' or 'I used to be that guy!'"

    The New York Film Critics Circle recently bestowed the 2002 Best First Film Award on Kidd, as a blessing to his success with Roger Dodger.

Now, with reassurance for future projects, Kidd is ready to move forward.

    "We're looking at a couple of books. I don't want to make a jump into some big thing, not that that's necessarily an option. I don't feel like I have enough experience yet to jump up and work within the studio system. I want to try to keep working with independent money and work at a small enough scale that we don't have to make some schlocky thing in order to satisfy the parent company."

    Roger Dodger hits the video stores on March 18.