Adelaide YouTube stars Danny and Michael Philippou, aka RackaRacka, set to make their debut feature film
Last year they drove a car filled with water through a bottle-o, now these Adelaide YouTube pranksters are set to make their first feature film - and it’s not what you’d expect.
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Adelaide YouTube pranksters Danny and Michael Philippou are heading for the big screen after securing funding for their debut feature film.
The twin brothers from Pooraka, who run the hugely popular RackaRacka YouTube channel, are perhaps best known for their “underwater car” stunt last year, in which they drove a car filled to the brim with water through the Lonsdale Hotel bottle shop drive-through.
Now they’re developing their first full-length movie, a horror flick called Talk To Me which follows a girl who conjures spirits through a disembodied hand and becomes plagued by supernatural visions.
Danny, who co-wrote the script with Michael Beck and will direct the film alongside his brother Michael, said it’s a “dream come true”.
“When we first heard, I just cried. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do. All the YouTube stuff, it’s been building towards filmmaking. It’s everything we’ve been trying to do since we started making stuff when we were 9 years old - that’s been our one goal,” he said.
The movie, produced by Causeway Films (The Babadook) and supported by the SA Film Corporation, is one of six projects to receive a share of $6 million in funding from Screen Australia, including a second season of Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.
Danny said the film, which is expected to begin shooting around SA early next year and feature a local cast and crew, will be very different to their YouTube Channel.
“It’s a lot more of a serious film. It’s a film about connection and - metaphorically - about depression. In terms of the tone, it’s very different from our RackaRacka stuff,” said Danny.
The channel, called RackaRacka after the suburb where they grew up, has over 6 million subscribers and is known for its elaborate and sometimes dangerous stunts.
Famously, this included their underwater car stunt, which saw Michael face a Magistrates Court this year charged with reckless driving and breaching standards of a road vehicle.
Danny said the duo still plan to continue releasing videos on their YouTube channel.
“It’s just about experimenting with different film techniques, that’s what our channel has always been about, that’s where we workshop our skills there,” he said.
“That’s what the audience wants and that will always be there.”