Normally getting a Hollywood project greenlit requires perseverance, an iron stomach and a willingness to undergo rounds of rewrites.

But the process was an atypical breeze for stand-up comedian Jo Koy and Daly City-born screenwriter Ken Cheng when it came to their dramedy “Easter Sunday,” which comes out this Friday.

The mostly Daly City-set film stars Koy as a flustered Los Angeles father/comedian who takes his less-than-enthused teen son on a road trip to visit their eccentric but lovable Daly City Filipino American relatives. Secrets, grudges and tasty food lead to comedic contrivances boosted by show-stopping cameos, including one from Tiffany Haddish (a scream).

Koy can’t believe that a film based in part on his life actually happened, and that making “Easter Sunday” was such a smooth experience, except when COVID-19 emerged.

“It wasn’t even a real process,” he said during an interview with Cheng at a Daly City movie theater. “It legit was like: Get it. Got it. Boom!”

It’s July 21, the day after the Jay Chandrasekahr-directed film’s world premiere where the community, including city officials, flocked to see it, Koy and snap selfies with the affable comedian while noshing on a variety of mouthwatering lumpia served afterwards.

And Koy and Cheng are still surfing that high.

But it’s also a jam-packed schedule with the city presenting Koy a key to Daly City in the morning and then on to a barrage of press interviews. The twosome barely have time to even gobble down slices of vegetarian pizza. (Ko hasn’t eaten red meat in 2½ years, a dietary switchup fueled after watching a vile Instagram video post that starred a farmer, a hungry pig and a dead rat. We’ll spare you the gory details)

But let’s get back on point.

How did a PG-13 comedy with mostly a Filipino American cast  sprint forward while other projects stall or land in the purgatory of the dreaded “in development” stage?

It was mainly the support of one cinematic icon: Steven Spielberg.

The influential filmmaker took an immediate shine to Koy’s style after watching his 2019 Neftlix comedy show “Joy Koy: Comin’ in Hot” shot in Seattle. He realized he was witnessing someone special, a comedian who created laughs out of personal stories and didn’t resort to easy put-downs to trigger the guffaws.

Spielberg, Koy recalls,  fired off an email to his Amblin studio team, and in turn they contacted him to take a meeting.

Attracting the interest of the Oscar-winning director phenomenon of such classics as “Jaws,” “Schindler’s List” and so many others, shocks Koy to this day.

“First of all, I’ve never gotten an Amblin call before,” he says, looking like he’s still pinching himself today.

Along with his agent, Koy visited Amblin where they anticipated a short initial meet up.

“So here I am walking into Amblin and legit every single person that’s inside Amblin is walking up to me and saying ‘Steven loves you, ‘ ‘Oh my God, Steven can’t stop talking about you.’ Every other person is saying this, to the point where me and my manager looked at each other like, “Is he talking about Steven in accounting?”

The Amblin team, including Holly Bario, didn’t mince their word over what they wanted.

“Right off the cuff, she was like do you have a movie idea? And I pitched ‘Easter Sunday’…And right at the end of the pitch they said we’ll take it.”

Koy and Cheng, who attended Stanford University, ran into the end zone from there.

“Easter Sunday” is the latest venture to further elevate Koy’s surging stature, on the rise due to countless appearances in comedy specials and on late-night TV along with  sold-out comedy tours, podcasts and more. His fourth Netflix comedy show is due Sept. 13.

He launched his career in Las Vegas and was soon making the circuit. His star rose after appearing on BET’s ComicView and then shined ever brighter when he became a regular guest sparring with comedian Chelsea Handler on her popular E! TV “Chelsea Lately” show. (The two dated for a year and recently broke off their relationship).

The 51-year-old now lives in Los Angeles and has filled a niche weather the laughs center on familial ties, particularly the Washington state native’s tight bonds with his mother, Joise Harrison who was born in the Philippines. His 19-year-old son Joseph Herbert Jr. inspired the role of the son in “Easter Sunday.”

Koy speaks with animated passion about Filipino-American representation and giving his mom an opportunity to watch a more accurate reflection of their community than what Hollywood haphazardly presented before. That was the main motivator in making “Easter Sunday,” he said.

“The whole goal of this is the blueprint,” he said. “One: You’re not only going to see that we’re specific. we’re also very relatable…We’re not making fun of. We’re having fun with. We’re not laughing at. We’re laughing with…Even if you’re not Filipino, you’re going to walk into (the movie) and going to relate – ‘Oh my mom acts like that mom’ or ‘Oh my God, she reminds me of my coworker and I love her.”

Koy and Cheng hope to shake up Hollywood old-school ways that historically pigeonholed, ignored ethnicities or turned them into caricatures.

While filming “Easter Sunday” – shot in Daly City and in Southern California – the two learned a lot about how Hollywood mistreated the community, including Carrere, who starred in “Wayne’s World,” and Diamond Phillips who won raves and also received criticism from within the community for playing singer Richie Valens in 1987’s “La Bamba” amongst other roles.

On set, Koy and Cheng said Diamond Phillips shared the Catch-22 he experienced in his earlier career at a time when representation wasn’t prevalent. The backlash to being cast in “La Bamba” left the actor depressed, Koy relates.

“It’s kind of like indirect racism,” Ko said. “The character of Richie Valens is being portrayed by a Filipino and greatly portrayed by a Filipino. But unfortunately the story he told us: I wasn’t being received by the Latino community and rightfully so. And then my Filipino side wasn’t happy with me because I was playing Lation, and they were upset. The two groups that I wanted to celebrate me were upset. The one group that was so happy for me is the reason why they’re upset  because they’re doing something that isn’t right.’

“They’re just casting people without even having any sensitivity on what this character means to a community,” Koy adds.

Carrera’s reaction to her part – she plays an aunt who’s feuding with her sister – had an impact on Koy.

He recalls her saying: “ ‘I want you to know Jo in my 30 years in Hollywood, this is the first movie I ever had to go in where the description was Filipino-American aunt. Back when I was in Hollywood some of the characters I would have to go for were described as Asian woman, thick accent but can sing.’ Even the description is offensive. We just want to lump all Asians in and do just any kind of Asian accent? Taht’s just like – What??”

Hearing stories such as those spurs them on.

“Man the door’s open and we’re not closing it,” Koy said. “It doesn’t stop. It won’t stop. I’m going to put my foot there. Ken’s going to put his foot there. We’re going to keep holding that door open and we want the support of our community to help keep it open.

“Sometimes our community is what brings us back. We don’t want that. Just keep pushing forward. We want a flood to happen.”

Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].