Carlos López Estrada

**Carlos López Estrada** (born September 12, 1988) is a Mexican-American music video, commercial, and film director. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and later enrolled at Chapman University.

He made his feature film directorial debut in 2018 with *Blindspotting*.

## Film

López Estrada directed a short film titled *Identity Theft* based on a one-act play written by Andrew Rothschild. It stars stage veterans Bill Irwin and Kate Burton. The film premiered at the 2015 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films.

López Estrada directed his first feature film in 2017, *Blindspotting*, starring *Hamilton*’s Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. The film, released in 2018, is semi-autobiographical and based on Diggs and Casal’s lives in a rapidly gentrifying Oakland.

As of October 2019, Disney Animations announced that they were developing a feature film with Lopez Estrada.

## Music videos

López Estrada has directed videos for a variety of artists, including clipping., Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Hook n Sling, Goo Goo Dolls, Reptar, Passion Pit, El Sportivo & The Blooz, MYPET, Saint Motel, Maximum Balloon, Bowerbirds, Capital Cities, and many more.

In 2011, López Estrada directed a music video for Mexican pop band Jesse & Joy of their song "Me Voy." The video, which uses stop motion and found the production team trimming 2900 photographs in order to create the sequences included, earned the title of Best Short Form Music Video at the 13th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2012. Lopez Estrada also directed “Chocolate” from *Electricidad* for Jesse & Joy.

In 2013, López Estrada co-directed a music video for Capital Cities’ "Kangaroo Court" which features American actor Darren Criss and American actress Shannon Woodward.

López Estrada directed five videos for the experimental rap group clipping.’s major label debut titled CLPPNG. Lopez Estrada came in contact with clipping. after befriending Jonathan Snipes, a member of the trio that makes up clipping., while Lopez Estrada was in film school. “Work Work” was the first single from the album. Stereogum detailed Lopez Estrada’s work on the videos as being, “[An] inventive, memorable, and weirdly unsettling experience.” This work led to many collaborations with rapper Daveed Diggs, a member of clipping.

In 2015, López Estrada directed a video for Thundercat’s “Them Changes”, which featured artists Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington. The song is a part of Thundercat’s The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam, which was his first collection of solo material in two years and placed the artist in collaboration with various others, such as Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington, who each contributed keyboard and saxophone, respectfully.

In 2018, López Estrada directed the music video for Billie Eilish's When the Party's Over.

## Television

In 2018, López Estrada directed the second episode of the final season of Legion, titled "Chapter 22". The episode was released in July 2019.

## Theatre

In October 2015, López Estrada starred in an original multimedia theatre show, titled *Ded!*. based on the Mexican Day of the Dead tradition, which he created and co-directed with Cristina Bercovitz. He and Bercovitz had previously worked together as co-directors on the music video for clipping.’s “GET UP.” The show ran at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles and was composed of an ensemble of musicians, actors and puppeteers. The show also featured a guest performance by Bill Irwin. *Living Out Loud, Los Angeles* praised Lopez Estrada’s pantomime and comedic performance in the show.

López Estrada directed a taping of *#BARS*, a live musical theatre and rap medley workshop in New York City, springing from the culmination of a six-week seminar by Rafael Casal, a poet, writer, rapper, and co-creator of #BARS. The film features performances by a variety of artists, including Rafael Casal, rapper Daveed Diggs, poet Sarah Kay, and nine more performers from New York City