This year, Guti\u00e9rrez crossed over into feature filmmaking with his docufiction debut \u201cSerious People,\u201d a deeply personal \u201ccringe comedy\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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On screen, Guti\u00e9rrez and Sanchez play versions of themselves: music video directors in an industry that takes itself too seriously. While expecting his first child with partner Christine Yuan, also a filmmaker, Guti\u00e9rrez found himself caught between his commitment to his partnership with Sanchez and his responsibility as a soon-to-be father. The Guti\u00e9rrez in \u201cSerious People\u201d hires a doppelganger to replace him in his professional commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were some things coming our way where if both Ra\u00fal and I weren\u2019t available to do it, they would go away. Clients would be uninterested if it wasn\u2019t the Cliqua brand,\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez says. \u201cThat was deeply frustrating and haunting for me because it was like, \u2018Ra\u00fal isn\u2019t choosing to have a baby, but I am. And this is affecting us, because he can\u2019t do everything on his own because people aren\u2019t letting him do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Though both Guti\u00e9rrez and Sanchez fit under the generic identity umbrella of \u201cMexican American,\u201d each of them knowingly embodies a distinct \u201cflavor of Mexican.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely identify with Chicano a lot,\u201d says Guti\u00e9rrez. \u201cI am second-generation and growing up I knew about lowriders and East L.A. barrio s\u2014.\u201d Raised between East Los Angeles and Pomona, Guti\u00e9rrez believes his Latino identity is unique to L.A.<\/p>\n
Sanchez, on the other hand, is the child of immigrants from Mexico City and Jalisco. As a first-generation kid in the South Bay city of Gardena, his worldview was shaped differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always had that split. You represent more what it is to be in this country for more generations, and I feel like I\u2019m new. The culture I associate with more is Mexican but more rancho s\u2014,\u201d Sanchez explains. A vivid memory for Sanchez is his grandfather slaughtering a pig and driving around South-Central on his pickup truck selling it. \u201cThe Chicano heritage wasn\u2019t a thing for me, it was more the immigrant experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up speaking more Spanglish,\u201d says Guti\u00e9rrez. \u201cBut Spanish was Ra\u00fal\u2019s first language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their artistic alliance is an amalgamation of what each brings to their friendship. Sanchez got Guti\u00e9rrez into Los Tigres del Norte and corridos, while Guti\u00e9rrez introduced him to Lil Rob\u2019s \u201cSummer Nights<\/a>\u201d and the 1993 movie \u201cBlood In Blood Out<\/a>,\u201d which Guti\u00e9rrez considers a foundational cultural artifact in his life.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of us have crossed towards the other\u2019s side a little more,\u201d 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. <\/p>\n \u201cWe really bonded over that shared experience of, \u2018What\u2019s it like trying to navigate this industry as a Latino?\u2019\u201d adds Sanchez.<\/p>\n For Guti\u00e9rrez, one of five siblings, his interest in filmmaking is linked to one of his older brothers who had a bit of a double life. \u201cHe was a gang member, but he was also a low-key cinephile,\u201d he says. \u201cHe used to work in art house theaters, and we used to just watch weird stuff for a little kid to watch. A lot of \u2018Blood In Blood Out,\u2019 but also stuff like \u2018Am\u00e9lie.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n With his father\u2019s support, Guti\u00e9rrez attended Chapman University to study film production. <\/p>\n \u201cMy pops said, \u2018Growing up no one ever asked me what I wanted to do. That wasn\u2019t even an option for me,\u2019\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez recalls. \u201c\u2018And the fact that you got accepted to this school, we\u2019ll just find a way. We\u2019ll take all the loans out. Go try and see how it is.\u2019 My father empowered me to follow my dreams for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But how does one break into making music videos?<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning, a lot of times you\u2019re shooting videos for your friends,\u201d says Guti\u00e9rrez. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy sister was dating a rapper, so I was shooting his videos,\u201d adds Sanchez.<\/p>\n Still, they both aspired to make feature films. <\/p>\n \u201cEven 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,\u201d says Sanchez. \u201cThose are the influences. We speak in movies.\u201d<\/p>\n After meeting and hanging out for a while, Guti\u00e9rrez and Sanchez were eager to work together. That opportunity came with the video for J Balvin\u2019s \u201cReggaeton,\u201d which they had to sign on to do without being able to do much preparation. In the aftermath of that positive experience, they decided to create Cliqua, which originally also included music artist Milkman (MLKMN).<\/p>\n The name comes from the book \u201cVarrio\u201d by Gusmano Cesaretti, an Italian photographer who documented East L.A. culture in the 1970s, including the Klique Car Club.<\/p>\n 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, they were aware of the limits to their creative freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cMusic videos are funny because they\u2019re obviously not truly our work either; we\u2019re at the service of another artist,\u201d explains Sanchez. \u201cWe\u2019re executing someone else\u2019s vision even if the brief is generally open. It\u2019s not truly us, but we\u2019re in there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMusic videos are hard, man,\u201d adds Guti\u00e9rrez. \u201cThe difficult thing about music videos that\u2019s different from feature filmmaking is that it\u2019s so fast. You get a concept, and you maybe have two days to come up with an idea and write a treatment for it. Then from there, you have a shoot date, but the shoot date can get pushed and it can get pulled depending on the artist.\u201d<\/p>\n