ONLY THE YOUNG Young Americans

North of Los Angeles stands the city of Santa Clarita, where once-affluent neighborhoods now buckle under the strain of economic recession.  Inside one of the town’s vacant houses, teenagers Garrison Saenz and Kevin Conway build a skateboard ramp in an empty room.  The two best friends – punkish and no strangers to rowdy behavior – are as devoted to preaching the Gospel as they are to the half-pipe.  Add to the mix Garrison’s on-again, off-again girlfriend Skye, a whip-smart, devout Christian facing a devastating foreclosure on her home; and Kristen, Garrison’s liberal-thinking, hip-hop dancing possible new paramour and you’ve got enough teen love, happiness and heartache to fill a deeply affecting screenplay.   But ONLY THE YOUNG is a work of non-fiction – a simple portrait of youth in America that reaches dizzying emotional heights thanks to dazzling cinematography, beautifully rhythmic editing and the intelligence and vision of directors Jason Tippet and Elizabeth Mims.