When the film Shelter opens on April 4 at The Ken Cinema, it will be Jonah Markowitz’s directorial debut – and it may provide audiences with a different take on the tried and true coming out story. The film, set against the sun-soaked beaches of Southern California, tells the story of two surfers who crave the waves – and, ultimately, one another.

While it sounds salacious, in fact, Markowitz and the film adeptly handles the material, chronicling the main characters’ very different lives and their attraction to one another in a realistic manner. Audiences may be inclined to call Shelter “the gay surfer movie,” but there’s so much more under its surface.

In the film, Zach (Trevor Wright), has become accustomed to putting his life, and his dream of art school, on hold. He finds himself playing father figure to his young nephew, Cody (Jackson Wurth), while his sister (“Six Feet Under’s” Tina Holmes) shirks her duties as mom.

He’s also juggling an on again/off again relationship with his girlfriend, Tori (Katie Walder).

Bound by his commitment to family and trapped in the gritty confines of his San Pedro life, things aren’t made easier when his best friend and surfing buddy, Gabe (Ross Thomas), leaves for college.

Enter Gabe’s older brother, Shaun (Brad Rowe), a struggling writer hindered by writer’s block. (Gay audiences will remember Rowe from Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss opposite a pre-“Will & Grace” Sean Hayes.) Shaun fills the void Gabe leaves and becomes someone Zach can hit the waves with. He also unlocks something in Zach, setting the stage for a budding “bro-mance.”

Markowitz, who was schooled in film study at Emerson College in Boston, has worked as a production designer and art director.

His art direction resume includes big-budget films including Meet The Fockers, The House of Sand and Fog, and We Are Marshall. His experience with production design is seen in small-budget films including Fluffer and Quinceanera.

Working at both ends of the spectrum, big budget and independent films, prepped Markowitz for the director’s chair.

“It helped in a couple ways,“ he said. “I obviously learned how to tell a story visually was one of the main things that happened, which just sort of honed my storytelling skills. I’ve had the opportunity to work on some really high budget studio movies, but also some smaller movies, independent.

“I think when you work on some of the smaller ones, what I learned as a designer is you have to change the way you focus in on a scene – and focusing on what’s really important in communicating what you are trying to communicate in that moment. And Shelter, due to the limited money and resources and time that we had – that was definitely something I carried over from that.”

“I always wanted to be a filmmaker, for as long as I can remember,” he said. “I wanted to be a chef and I wanted to be a filmmaker – if the filmmaking thing doesn’t work out, I’ll go to culinary school. But, for now, it seems to be doing alright.”

Even though Markowitz has a fall back plan, he knows his true calling is directing.

“I really do love directing,” he said. “I really enjoy art directing, but my passion is directing – because I really love working with people, and just the amount of people you get to work with everyday when you are directing is so engaging. The film is only as good as all of the people that make it, so it’s fun to be a part of that and to be at the center of that collaboration.”

Having written and directed his first full-length feature film, Markowitz also penned and shot the shorts Hung Up and I Left Me – but he hasn’t ruled out giving his take on another writer’s vision.

“I don’t think it is that vital,” he said of directing his own scripted work. “I’ve never had the opportunity to direct something I didn’t write, but I’d love to actually. Because I’d love to come in and be able to give my own take on another project.

“I think it’s like anyone else on the crew, as long as you understand the characters and the story and it’s a story you want to tell, I think you can work off a script if it’s yours or someone else’s.”

So how did the writer/director find the inspiration for Shelter?

“I got inspired to write this film when I was standing at a big mountain lake and there were these two guys that were tossing a Frisbee back and forth to each other,” he said. “And, the sun was setting behind them and they were silhouettes. I was kind of wondering if they were brothers, friends, or father and son – and what if they were two lovers?”

From that premise, Markowitz knew he didn’t want to make the standard queer flick.

“As far as it not being a typical gay film, it definitely was the intention for me to write the story I hadn’t seen up on screen and characters I hadn’t seen in a traditional gay movie,” Markowitz said. “It’s these two guys in a setting that’s very traditionally male – there’s these things that men do outside and they bond together, and I really wanted to bring a love story into that and the relationship.

“And then also tie in the family element of that – both the family that we have, and how we reconcile that, as well as the families that we create,” he said. “So, that’s how it all came together as one idea.”

Markowitz hopes that idea will resonate with the film’s audience.

“I hope they enjoy the film, and they can relate to it,” he said. “And I hope that they see if you have love, you can create family.”