Chris Merola brings his directorial feature film debut Lemonade Blessing to the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
We are delighted to have a discussion with writer and director Chris Merola about his coming-of-age comedy, Lemonade Blessing, debuting at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Merola’s film had its world premiere as part of the US Narrative Competition, where he talked about his excitement over his film’s selection for the event.
Merola shares how he was able to assemble a great team and make the film the best it could be. One thing Merola learned from making the film was how much minutiae was involved in the process. He discusses working with Jake Ryan, the young actor who stars as the film’s main character, John. Audiences may recognize Ryan from his appearance in Bo Burnham’s film, Eighth Grade. Merola praises Ryan for being an authentic performer. Also, he discusses mainly shooting the film in New Jersey, and shared that his mother’s home was used as the set for scenes portraying John’s home in the film. In addition, he shared that Lemonade Blessing took 20 days to film.
Learn more about the details of the filmmaking process of Lemonade Blessing by checking out our interview. It was a pleasure speaking with Merola, who was so enthusiastic about sharing his film with audiences.
Explore our coverage of the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival here.
