Amid stacks of cash and liquor bottles, Tony Montana and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán sit together inside a painting. One fictional and the othre real, the drug lords look nonchalant.
“That’s us!” says filmmaker Raúl “RJ” Sanchez with joyful mischief when I point out the centerpiece on the main wall of their office in downtown L.A.Sanchez’s partner in artistic crime, Pasqual Gutiérrez, tells me they got the frame nearby at Santee Alley.Located on a street corner in the Fashion District, their space, which doubles as a man cave, reflects their creative influences, their ties too L.A. and their offbeat sense of humor. Before they moved in 2021, the place was a shoe store called latino Fashion – the storefront sign remains.
walk in and you’ll find the bottom half of a mannequin flaunting male genitalia (“That was our stunt penis from [the short film] ‘Shut Up and Fish,'” says Sanchez laughing). Ther’s also a bulky metal structure that resembles a torture device, a teal green couch (which they got for under $100), photography books and keepsakes on shelves that once displayed footwear. Its a mini museum to their history so far. Or, as Sanchez calls it, it’s “a living brain.”
Known artistically as Cliqua, the in-demand duo has already worked with some of the music industry’s biggest names. their resume includes directing videos for Bad Bunny (“The Difficult“), the Weeknd (“Save Your Tears“), J Balvin (“Reggaeton“) and Rosalía (“me x You, You x Me“).
This year, Gutiérrez crossed over into feature filmmaking with his docufiction debut “Serious People,” a deeply personal “cringe comedy” that he co-directed with longtime friend Ben Mullinkosson. Following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the film had a theatrical release in November and is now available to stream on multiple VOD platforms.## From “Blood In Blood out” to The Weeknd: How Cliqua Became a Music Video Powerhouse
For many Latino kids growing up in Los Angeles, “Blood In Blood Out” isn’t just a movie-it’s a cultural touchstone. For directors Carlos Sánchez and adrián Gutiérrez, it was a foundational influence that helped shape their creative paths, ultimately leading them to co-found the acclaimed music video collective Cliqua.
“Both of us have crossed towards the other’s side a little more,” says sanchez. The two met through their then-girlfriends (now their wives and mothers of their respective children) almost a decade ago.At that point they each were already directing music videos.”We really bonded over that shared experience of, ‘What’s it like trying to navigate this industry as a Latino?'” adds Sanchez.
For Gutiérrez, one of five siblings, his interest in filmmaking is linked to one of his older brothers who had a bit of a double life. “He was a gang member, but he was also a low-key cinephile,” he says. “He used to work in art house theaters, and we used to just watch weird stuff for a little kid to watch.A lot of ‘Blood In Blood Out,’ but also stuff like ‘Amélie.'”
With his father’s support,Gutiérrez attended Chapman University to study film production.
“My pops said, ‘Growing up no one ever asked me what I wanted to do. That wasn’t even an option for me,'” Gutiérrez recalls.”‘And the fact that you got accepted to this school, we’ll just find a way. We’ll take all the loans out. Go try and see how it is.’ My father empowered me to follow my dreams for sure.”
Sanchez had a less linear path into filmmaking. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in ancient history with the intent of going to law school. Instead, he returned to L.A. to try his hand at film, an interest that evolved from his enjoyment of video games growing up and film studies courses in college.
But how does one break into making music videos?
“In the beginning, a lot of times you’re shooting videos for your friends,” says gutiérrez. “If you are creative in L.A., you know other creatives and one of them is a music artist or one of them is a rapper or in a rock band. And you start that way.”
“My sister was dating a rapper, so I was shooting his videos,” adds Sanchez.
Still, they both aspired to make feature films.
“Even when we were at the beginnings of Cliqua, the language we have always used to even talk about music videos has always been film-centric,” says sanchez. “Those are the influences. we speak in movies.”
After meeting and hanging out for a while, Gutiérrez and Sanchez were eager to work together. that opportunity came with the video for J Balvin’s “Reggaeton,” which they had to sign on to do without being able to do much readiness.In the aftermath of that positive experience, they decided to create Cliqua, which originally also included music artist Milkman (MLKMN).
The name comes from the book “Varrio” by Gusmano Cesaretti, an Italian photographer who documented East L.A. culture in the 1970s, including the Klique Car Club.The video for J Balvin kick-started their careers. They soon found themselves a niche as reggaeton became globally popular and a new crop of artists revitalized its aesthetic. But even as they eventually crossed over to other corners of the industry and landed consistent work with the Weeknd,
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