| RackaRacka | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Michael (left) and Danny (right) in March 2020 | ||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||
| Born | Danny Philippou Michael Philippou (1992-11-13)13 November 1992 (age 32) | |||||||||
| Occupations |
| |||||||||
| YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Also known as | RackaRacka | |||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Years active | 2013–present | |||||||||
| Genres | ||||||||||
| Subscribers | 6.86m[1] (4 December 2024) | |||||||||
| Total views | 1.16 billion[1] (4 December 2024) | |||||||||
| Associated acts | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Last updated: 4 December 2024 | ||||||||||
Danny Philippou andMichael Philippou (born 13 November 1992), known together online asRackaRacka, are Australian twin filmmakers,YouTubers, and stunt performers. They are known for theirhorror comedyYouTube videos. They won numerous awards, including the Best International ChannelStreamy Award, Best Overall at the Online Video Awards, and theAACTA Award for the Best Web Show.
Originally fromAdelaide withGreek heritage, the brothers moved toLos Angeles in January 2019 but continue to make films in Australia. They made theirfeature directorial debut when they wrote and directed the supernatural horror filmTalk to Me, which premiered at the2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released internationally from 27 July 2023.
They began filming their backyard wrestling matches with close friends in Adelaide when they were 11 years old, inspired byWWE.[2] These included scenes of the brothers crashing into furniture, "flipping kids over and bashing them headfirst into the ground", and jumping off everything", including roofs. They also filmed in a half-built house, and caused the water to flood the site. They later said that some of the things they did were extremely risky and even life-threatening, and they were glad of a friend's elder sister who helped steer them away from doing these things that could have taken them down a path ofjuvenile delinquency.[3] At the age of 13, they moved on to making a "TV show" and "movies".[2]
In 2013 they started creating "fake fail" videos for Facebook, and a few months later started the YouTube channelRackaRacka.[2] Initially the channel was not monetised, with Danny financing the videos by volunteering for paid medical trials.[4]
The channel's first huge success wasHarry Potter VSStar Wars, which attracted 7 million views in a week,[5] and won them a trip to the U.S.[6]
In 2014, Michael and Danny both crewed on the Australian horror film,The Babadook.[7] The production company responsible forThe Babadook, Triptych Pictures, has also produced videos for RackaRacka, including:Versus, a series of three short films;RackaRacka Live (Stunt Gone Wrong); andExtreme Handball. Written and directed by the Philippou Brothers, these were shown on theFoxtel pay channel.[8]
On 10 July 2017, Danny and Michael revealed that they moved into amansion with their close friends, marking the beginning of a series of videos for the channel titledHouse of Racka, which combined their real-life adventures andspecial effects skills altogether into avlog-like series.[9] TheHouse of Racka series became the majority of the channel's uploads for around a year. On 2 April 2018, among complaints of YouTube demonetising the channel, the brothers announced that they were beingevicted from their mansion. Many fans thought this meant the end of the channel, as the video contained an emotional tribute to the experiences the twins had in the mansion, in a more sombre mood than they usually projected.[10] This was later proven to be false, however, as the two later revealed that theHouse of Racka series was the only cancellation to their YouTube careers.[11]
On 25 August 2018, Michael fought American YouTuber Scarce in anamateur boxing match on the undercard ofKSI vs Logan Paul atManchester Arena in England, winning viatechnical knockout in the 3rd round.[12]
The twins' feature-length directorial debut is ahorror film entitledTalk to Me, produced by Australian production company Causeway Films[13] and set in the filmmakers' hometown of Adelaide.[3] The cast includesSophie Wilde,Zoe Terakes, andMiranda Otto, with the storyline about a young woman who summons dead spirits with a ceramic hand.[14]Talk to Me sold to numerous international distributors atCannes in 2022.[15] It had a preview screening at theAdelaide Film Festival on 30 October 2022, the closing night of the festival.[16][17] The film had its world premiere at the2023 Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2023,[18][19] and its European premiere at the73rd Berlin International Film Festival on 21 February 2023,[20][21] and was released in cinemas internationally from 27 July 2023.[6] On August 3, they revealed that a prequel had been shot utilising ascreenlife perspective,[22] and on August 8, a sequel was confirmed to be in development.[23]
In April 2023, the brothers were tapped to direct a newStreet Fighter film forLegendary Entertainment andCapcom.[24] In June 2024, the duo were reported to have left the project, due to scheduling conflicts with their following original feature film, titledBring Her Back.[25] As withTalk To Me, the film was produced by Causeway Films, and distributed byA24. The film starsSally Hawkins andBilly Barratt.[6][26]
The Philippous have said that they want to continue to make films in Australia, where they prefer the filmmaking culture.[6]Bring Her Back began shooting in Australia in late June 2024.[25][27]
The brothers were born inAdelaide and raised in thePooraka suburb of the city.[6] They are ofGreek descent.[28]
In December 2019, Michael was charged bySouth Australia Police with numerous crimes related to a video uploaded on 16 January 2019, which depicted him driving a heavily modified and watertight car on public roads while completely submerged and breathing partially through a hole in the roof.[29][30] He was ordered to appear in court on 14 January 2020,[31] but avoided conviction[6] after entering a plea deal that saw him pay $2,000 in fines and court costs and disqualified him from driving for two weeks.[32][33]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Talk to Me | Yes | Danny only | [3] |
| 2025 | Bring Her Back | Yes | Danny only | [34] |
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Australian Online Video Awards | Best Comedy | Harry Potter vs Star Wars | Won | [39] |
| Best Overall | Won | ||||
| 2015 | Fright Meter Awards | Best Short Horror Film | RackaRacka | Nominated | [40] |
| Streamy Awards | Best International YouTube Channel | Won | [41] | ||
| 2017 | AACTA Awards | Best Online Video or Series | Won | [42] | |
| 2019 | Streamy Awards | International: Asia Pacific | Nominated | [43] | |
| 2024 | AACTA Awards | Best Direction | Talk to Me | Won | [44] |
| Best Screenplay | Won | [45] |
Michael Philippou... pleaded guilty to driving without due care and driving unregistered and uninsured, with the more serious charge of reckless driving dropped. The 27-year-old was required to pay more than $2000 in fines and court costs and was disqualified from driving for 14 days.
