The irony of a comedy director named Lemon is not lost on us. While Mariano Melamed may have picked up his nickname for being the serious "bitter guy" as a teen, there's nothing but levity in his commercial work.

Represented by Rebolucion in his native Argentina and Bus in Madrid, Lemon's work ranges from odd (AIWA "Ears", Signia "Help") to sharp and witty (Easy "President"), to good campy fun, as in Lift "Professor", where a classroom of tense students awaiting a test erupt into a slo-mo, shirt-ripping euphoria when their people-pleasing prof decides not to show. And his first commercial for Glucotrin, which tells the story of an elderly deaf-mute couple whose loving relationship is fatally damaged by the communication-crippling effects of arthritis, won him a Gold at FIAP.

The beneficiary of an artful childhood, 36-year-old Lemon came to directing by way of photography. "My mother used to give art courses in our living room. As a kid, I used to spy on them and that hooked me on art," he says. "Then photography came into my life. The feeling I got from taking pictures gave me the chance to discover that I had to do something much more serious with the energy I felt. Photography drew me into becoming a director."

After abandoning an unsatisfying five-year stint in an attorney's office, Lemon packed up and moved to Barcelona, where he basically lived at the library and consumed anything to do with film. "I went there every single day, even on the weekends, from 10am to 2am. I used to see four movies a day and read a chapter of a book related to the movie I was going to see."

Upon returning to Buenos Aires he began working as a third AD in 2000 before joining Peluca Films as an AD. He signed on with Rebolucion in August 2005 shortly after his friend Luciano Podcaminsky joined the company.

It seems his serious side is still alive and kicking. As an AD, Lemon got very involved in the creative process. "I took every script as if it was mine," he says. And now as a director, he's continually striving to learn and grow. "I feel like a kid in a playground every time I'm on set. I love experimenting with gadgets, styles and aesthetics. I love having the chance to create an environment that comes from my own vision of life."

While Lemon might not be that bitter guy anymore, as is clear through his work, he's still got a knack for collecting nicknames. "I don't know anyone who has more than I do," he says. "Some of them - and I only include ones that are used by more than two people - are: Lemon, Lima, Limon, Pomel, Marian, Melon, and the latest, Israel." His mother calls him Mariano.

Rebolucion http://www.rebolucion.com

Bus http://www.bus-pro.com