Making Movies is an international rock n' roll band known for its Latino activism in the United States and abroad. Formed in Kansas City, MO in 2009, their music includes elements of rock, cumbia, psychedelia, American roots, son cubano, and spoken word.
The band is composed of Panamanian brothers Enrique Chi (vocals, guitar) and Diego Chi (bass), along with Juan-Carlos Chaurand (percussion, keys) from Mexico, and Duncan Burnett (drums) from Kansas.
Diego Chi is an American musician, composer, and vocalist, best known for his work with Making Movies. Making Movies received a Latin GRAMMY nomination for their collaboration with Rubén Blades, No Te Calles, which Rolling Stone called "a rollicking ode to the right to resist" and NPR Music labeled one of the Best Songs of the year. Chi also co-created and composed the score for PBS American music documentary, AMERI'KANA TV.
When not touring, Diego dedicates himself to martial arts and to taking his wife and kids to the movies near their home in Whittier California.
Enrique Chi is a songwriter, musician, film maker, activist and leader and founder psychedelic Panamanian band Making Movies. The band is one of the vehicles Chi uses to express his mission through art. The band’s critically acclaimed album - XOPA - has lifted the group into international acclaim. XOPA was praised by NPR, Afropunk, and Remezcla for its unique blend of Latin tradition and psychedelic rock. Like their namesake, the band’s videos have a strong cinematic feel and the music video for the title track, “XOPA”, premiered at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, an official selection for the Dances With Films Festival.
Enrique has shared the stage with notable artists including Arcade Fire, Gogol Bordello, Cold War Kids, Los Lobos, Ozomatli, Tennis and performed at the Auditorio Nacional and Vive Latino festival in Mexico City.
Enrique Chi has made it a point to stay connected to their community. In 2017, Chi launched Art As Mentorship, a non-profit organization empowering young people, through music, to write their own success story. Art as Mentorship envisions an inclusive community where historically underrepresented artists are emboldened to raise their voices through music, transform young artists through access to world-class mentorship, real-world skill development and mental health support.
In 2023, Enrique Chi ushered Kansas City into the national Arts for Everybody movement recently featured in the NY Times. The festival Chi founded and produces, Celebrate AMERI’KANA 2024, will be part of an eighteen city activation pushing forward the narrative of arts participation as a vehicle for community wellness. On September 10th 2023, the city of Kansas City presented Chi, Making Movies and Art as Mentorship with a proclamation declaring it as Celebrate AMERI’KANA day.
In 2018, Chi produced a documentary film titled Music is An Immigrant in partnership with KCPT, which received an Emmy nomination. Making Movies and nonprofit Art As Mentorship collaborated to launch AMERIKANA.TV in 2020, a living documentary exploring the rich DNA within the American music story. In 2021, Enrique Chi was voted in as a governor for the Memphis Chapter of the Record Academy (GRAMMYS) for which he serves to this day.
