Jo Koy shares how Steven Spielberg made his film Easter Sunday happen
Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy was thrilled to lead the Philippine premiere of Easter Sunday, the first Filipino-themed film produced by a major Hollywood studio.
“Yeah, it had to (premiere in Manila). That was the deal. That was the whole deal when I was in Amblin,” Jo Koy told The Philippine STAR during a presscon on Tuesday before the red-carpet premiere held in three cinemas at the SM Mall of Asia.
Amblin Entertainment is the film company led by the legendary director and producer Steven Spielberg.
Jo Koy told the story of how he learned that Spielberg’s Amblin was willing to do a film with him.
He found out that the director discovered and loved him in his second hit Netflix special Comin’ In Hot.
“When I went to Amblin, that was an amazing story, too. When I got called into Amblin, that was a general meeting. I just thought it was a good meeting. I pitched me and they pitched them. And then, you know, you walk away and then nothing happens because that’s what happens in Hollywood, right?” he shared.
“But what happened was I walked into Amblin, and it was like, oh Steven loves you, Steven thinks you’re so funny, Steven thinks you’re this and that. And when you hear that, you’re like, are you telling us, Steven from accounting? This can’t be Steven Spielberg, there’s no way and they’re like, no, it’s Mr. Spielberg. And he wants to do a movie and you know, we pitched this movie.”
According to Jo Koy, an important part of the agreement was to ensure a theatrical release and run for Easter Sunday.
He shared, “The first thing we thought, it was not only going to be a theatrical release, but it was going to be a global release. And that it’s going to be in the Philippines in a theater. That was the deal in the room. I didn’t want it any other way. I didn’t want it on-demand. I didn’t want it on Netflix. This movie is a Dreamworks movie.”
A grateful Jo Koy praised Spielberg for making Easter Sunday happen.
“I don’t think everyone knows this, but (Spielberg) only made two movies. He made Jurassic World and Easter Sunday. So, that’s only amazing. That’s movie-cool and I don’t know if you guys could really embody that, like just really understand what he did for us. You know what I mean?
“He took this story and he’s like, he’s gonna make it happen. He really made it happen! And he put me in there with everybody. He put me, I don’t know if you guys saw before it was released, but it was with Thor, Minions, Maverick and Jurassic World. Like it was huge. He put me in there with everybody. He threw in there Easter Sunday, like it was crazy! That’s how much love he had for this project,” he further said of Spielberg.
Jo Koy also thanked Universal Pictures for being Easter Sunday’s distribution arm.
“Like, really let that sink in you guys. This is the first time an all-Asian cast with a Filipino lead is produced by a major studio,” he said of the film’s lead cast that includes Hollywood stars with Filipino descent such as Lou Diamond Phillips and Tia Carrere.
“So (to premiere the film in the Philippines) is like living the dream. This is beautiful. My son’s here, my sister’s here,” he added.
Asked if Spielberg had any “marching orders” to him when they started filming over the pandemic, Jo Koy said, “Everything. Did everything.”
He gushed that everything he wanted, “he gave me.”
“He was crazy!” he continued.
Jo Koy admitted that there were times when there would be creative differences on set.
“And it will always revert back to him (Spielberg). Then all of a sudden, miraculously, he would be like, okay, yeah, it’s okay. See that? So that was really cool. He really had my back and my best interest,” he recalled.
The film, which the comedian described as his love letter to the Filipino people, is loosely based on Jo Koy’s life experiences.
“Don’t get me wrong. I had a great team of writers. I didn’t write the movie. That’s a very hard thing to do — write a movie. But you know, you can only pitch which is what I did. I pitched the idea, I told my stories, as many stories as I could. And they wrote that into the movie.”
“But there are these things, obstacles, that you needed someone like a Steven Spielberg to be like, ‘No, it’s okay, Joseph.’”
When their family, especially his mom Josephine, learned that no less than Spielberg was backing the movie, Jo Koy recalled it was an emotional moment for everyone.
“Everyone was crying,” he looked back.
“Because like I said, it really is hard you guys. I can’t tell you how hard it is out there. It’s no one’s fault it’s hard. It’s a machine, you know?” he added.
Jo Koy has had spoken about the challenges and rejections he faced in what he described as a “racist” US entertainment industry. But he managed to break through the barriers in the more than 30 years of his career as a live stand-up comedian.
He noted that things are changing now with more representation and diversity seen in the entertainment scene.
He’s thankful to people who have paved the way, and he wishes to do the same for others.
“It’s funny, there are people in there that have the keys to these gates that are opening right now. And I want to really hold it open as much as I can. And yeah, so you know, Tia Carrere and Lou Diamond Phillips, and everybody else like, thank God for them. Because they went through the trenches for me.”
Meanwhile, among all the special holidays that Filipinos celebrate, why did he pick Easter Sunday as the central theme?
In the film, Jo Koy stars as a man returning home for an Easter celebration with his riotous, bickering, eating, drinking, laughing, loving family.
“The reason why I picked Easter Sunday is because that was the holiday that everybody was there. That was the day that everybody you know was there on the table. It was just this big potluck of all this food,” he explained.
“That’s when the chaos happens, that’s when the talent show happens, that’s when karaoke happens. So, I wanted to pick that thing. I knew I could do everything on that specific day without it being a Christmas movie.”
Now showing in Philippine cinemas and distributed by Universal Pictures, Easter Sunday assembled an all-star Fil-Am comedic cast who have made a name for themselves globally including Diamond Phillips (Courage Under Fire), Tony nominee Eva Noblezada (Broadway’s Hadestown), Carrere (True Lies, Wayne’s World films), Lydia Gaston (Broadway’s The King and I), Eugene Cordero (The Good Place series), Rodney To (Parks and Recreation series), Brandon Wardell (Curb Your Enthusiasm series) and stand-up comedian Joey Guila.
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