An uptight boy spends the day with his mother's boyfriend and derails the relationship.


PIVOT PALS is used with permission from Doron Drew Feldman. Learn more at https://dorondrewfeldman.com.


Dax is a young boy who's precociously smart, mature and a little uptight for his tender years. He lives with his single mother, Jess, who is dating Clay. Almost more childish than Dax himself, Clay is freewheeling, and fun but also an immature slacker.

When Clay offers to babysit Dax, the day goes badly, with Dax often uncomfortable or overstimulated by what Clay planned out. But when Dax gets wind of Clay's intentions toward his mom, Dax acts out, derailing the relationship between Jess and Clay once and for all.

Directed and written by Doron Drew Feldman, this heartwarming, sharply funny short dramedy is a study of opposites that puts two very different personalities near one another and observes how those differences spark into outright conflicts. But it's also a genuine and tender examination of family, and what that kind of love means when put into action.

Excellently written and deftly directed, we first meet Dax as he listens to a selfhelp and relationship podcast. It's a comical contrast, seeing a young boy take in material aimed at grownups, but it says much about Dax's personality. He's mature beyond his years perhaps a little neurotically so and he's smart. By contrast, Clay's intro shows him to be funloving and goodintentioned, but as he takes the reins of responsibility in watching Dax for the day while his mom is at work, we also see Clay doesn't think much beyond his ideas and desires. He wants to Dax to a football game, not considering that Dax doesn't enjoy sports and loud noises overwhelm him.

Shot with an engaging, natural eye and dynamic camera movement, the storytelling briskly tracks the small frictions between boy and manchild, and it keeps our interest as these tiny skirmishes build up often to comical effect to bigger conflicts, whether they're exacerbated by traffic, poor decisions or bathroom accidents. Much like the traffic jam they're mired in, it's a pileup of one bad thing after another, veering from awkward to funny to mortifying, sometimes all in one situation.

Young performer Cameron Keitt has an appealing innocence and innate intelligence that makes Dax an endearing presence, but he also makes Dax's more difficult moments understandable and intense, which flummoxes Clay. As Clay, actor Ty Fanning is just as complex, going beyond Clay's surface immaturity to reveal an innate decency, as well as his desire to bond with Dax. He takes his failure with Dax hard, because he wants to bring his relationship with Dax's mother to the next level. When Dax discovers that, the stakes become serious, and the young boy does all he can to stop the relationship, leading to a final blowup and confrontation.

The focus on character in PIVOT PALS ultimately serves it well at the end, making for an ending that truly tugs at the heart with its poignancy and pain. We understand both Dax's perspectives, but we also feel for Clay. But ultimately, their misadventures become a learning experience for both, as Clay faces the consequences of his lack of immaturity. But Dax also learns something as well: what it means to not be selfish, give someone the benefit of the doubt, extend some grace when they mess up and appreciate the love and affection someone gives in the way they know how.