Kacho López Mari
Kacho López Mari is a Puerto Rican filmmaker and music video director, co-founder of the production company . His work spans more than forty music videos and short films, including projects that helped define reggaetón’s visual language and others that merge documentary and activism. In 2014 he became the first director to win both Best Short Form Music Video and Best Long Form Music Video at the same Latin Grammy Awards ceremony. He is a 7-time nominee and two time Latin Grammy Award winner for his music videos “Ojos Color Sol” and “Loco de Amor”. His second collaboration with Juanes titled Mis Planes son Amarte, got López Mari his 6th Latin Grammy nomination and his 4th for Best Music Video, Long Form. His music video/documentary "El Apagón - Aquí vive gente" for Bad Bunny was nominated at The Shots Awards of the Americas 2023 in the video of the year category and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions 70 in Cannes, France in 2023. The video was also nominated at the VMAs 2023 in the Video for good category. In August 2023 Premios Rolling Stone en Español nominated "Canción Desaparecida" by Juanes, music video López Mari directed, in the Videoclip del Año category. In 2025 Kacho directed the music video for Baile Inolvidable, the first Salsa song to reach #1 in Apple Music's global charts.
Career
Kacho López Mari started his career in the field of graphic design. Before directing, López Mari produced underground music events in Puerto Rico and worked on television commercials at Paradiso Films. His first music video was Tego Calderón’s “Abayarde/Gracias”, a six-minute narrative piece combining two songs. The video coincided with Calderón’s breakthrough and became one of the genre’s earliest visual landmarks. Throughout his career, López Mari has directed music videos for Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, Juanes, Ile, Aventura, Daddy Yankee, Calle 13, Don Omar, Tego Calderón and Chayanne among many others.Style and themes
López Mari’s videography ranges from genre-defining reggaetón hits to socially engaged works that integrate documentary and political commentary. His films often emphasize cultural identity, memory, and the relationship between image and community.Cultural impact
A 2025 feature by the Los Angeles Times highlighted López Mari as one of the key visual storytellers behind Latin music’s rise to global prominence. The newspaper described his portfolio of more than forty music videos as “flip-booking through modern Latin music history” and credited his early collaborations—such as Abayarde, Gasolina and Ojos Color Sol—with helping to define the aesthetics of reggaetón and contemporary Latin pop.The Los Angeles Times further noted that López Mari’s later works, including El Apagón — Aquí Vive Gente and Multi_Viral, expand the possibilities of the music video format by fusing performance with documentary storytelling and social commentary. His inclusion in the paper’s De Los section was cited as emblematic of a growing recognition of Latinx creatives shaping global culture from behind the camera.
Notable works
Daddy Yankee – "Gasolina" : Co-directed; although assembled quickly by looping initial footage for MTV broadcast, it introduced reggaetón to global audiences and helped establish the genre’s early on-screen aesthetic.Calle 13 – "Adentro" : Latin Grammy nominee for Best Short Form Video; features frontman Residente destroying a Maserati as an anti-consumerism statement.Calle 13 – "Multi_Viral" : Filmed in the West Bank; portrays children building a guitar from a rifle and was described by López Mari as one of his most important projects.Calle 13 – "Ojos Color Sol" : Latin Grammy winner for Best Short Form Video; features Silvio Rodríguez, with Gael García Bernal and María Valverde in the cast.Juanes – "Loco de Amor " : Latin Grammy winner for Best Long Form Music Video, the same year López Mari also won Best Short Form, a first-ever double win in the awards’ history.Juanes – Mis Planes Son Amarte : Recognized as Latin music’s first major visual album, a one-hour narrative linking twelve songs through a sci-fi/romance storyline.Bad Bunny – "Callaíta" : Crafted as a dream-like portrayal of Puerto Rican summer nights; Bad Bunny later praised it for conveying the feeling of a “hug.”Bad Bunny – "El Apagón — Aquí Vive Gente" : Expanded into a 22-minute investigative short with journalist Bianca Graulau, spotlighting blackouts and post-hurricane infrastructure issues in Puerto Rico.Bad Bunny – "Baile Inolvidable" : Filmed at the University of Puerto Rico and other island locations; part of the 2025 album cycle and continuing López Mari’s collaboration with Bad Bunny.Accolades
At the 16th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2014, López Mari won Best Short Form Music Video for Ojos Color Sol and Best Long Form Music Video for Loco de Amor , becoming the first director to win both categories in the same year.| Year | Nominee/Work | Award | Result | Ref |
| 2025 | Baile Inolvidable | VMAs 2025 - Latin | Nominated | |
| 2024 | Director of the year | Heat Latin Music Awards 2024 | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Canción Desaparecida | - Melhor videoclipe Latam | Nominated | |
| 2023 | El Apagón | - Documental | Won | |
| 2023 | Canción Desaparecida | - Impacto Social | Won | |
| 2023 | Canción Desaparecida | Premio Rolling Stone 2023 - Videoclip del Año | Nominated | |
| 2023 | El Apagón | VMAs 2023 - Video for Good | Nominated | |
| 2023 | El Apagón | Cannes Lions - Entertainment for music - Excellence in Music Video | Short List | |
| 2023 | El Apagón | SME Digital Awards | Best of Show | |
| 2023 | El Apagón | - Video of the year | Short List | |
| 2022 | Flow HP | Bogotá Music Video Festival | Finalist | |
| 2021 | Flow HP | Won | ||
| 2021 | "Origen" Documental | Latin Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video | Nominated | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity award for Entertainment | Shortlist Winner | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity award for Radio and Audio | Won Bronze | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | El Festival Iberoamericano de la Comunicación Publicitaria El Sol award for Digital and Mobile | Won Silver | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | Clio Awards for Social Good and Music Marketing | Won Bronze | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | SME Digital Award for Best Social Responsibility Campaign | Won Gold | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | SME Digital Award for Best Use of Content Marketing | Won Gold | |
| 2018 | "Yo Contra Ti" | SME Digital Award for Best Video Execution | Won Silver | |
| 2017 | "Mis Planes Son Amarte" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video | Nominated | |
| 2015 | "Loco de Amor, La Historia" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video | Won | |
| 2015 | "Ojos Color Sol" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video | Won | |
| 2014 | "Adentro" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video | Nominated | |
| 2014 | "Música en Tiempos" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video | Nominated | |
| 2013 | "Hecho con Sabor a Puerto Rico" | Latin Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video | Nominated | |
| 2005 | "Gasolina" | MTV2 Award "Best Video" | Nominated |