Meet Cliqua, the Mexican American director duo that caught the eye of Bad Bunny and the Weeknd

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Amid stacks of cash and liquor bottles, Tony Montana and Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán sit together inside a painting.One fictional and the other 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 to 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).There’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.

It’s 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 (“La Difícil”), the Weeknd (“Save Your Tears”), J Balvin (“Reggaeton”) and Rosalía (“Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi”).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.On screen, Gutiérrez and Sanc...