Winning at the Austin Comedy Film Festival

The Feeney Luck, a romantic comedy screenplay by Kerry Gleason won the “Best Romantic Comedy Screenplay” award at the Austin Comedy Film Festival on Sept. 26, 2026.

Kevin Feeney is the unluckiest man in New York City. His bad luck continues to grow, and it gets in the way of him finding the woman of his dreams. As soon as he meets Alexandra Graves, he knows that he wants to be with her. His best friend, Joe, discovers a book which claims that witches in 1890s Ireland place a hereditary curse on the Feeney family name. If Kevin is to succeed with Alex, he’ll have to reverse this century-old hex.

As I was growing up, my father used to claim that every misfortune was due to something he called “The Gleason Luck.” Fast forward almost 20 years, and I’m working in New York City for the largest PR firm in the world, and I have nothing but bad luck. Bad luck with cars, bad luck with travel, bad luck with bosses and more demoralizing, bad luck in the dating scene. After one disappointing breakup, I told my friend, Wayne, “I’ve got to have the worst luck of anybody in the world.” He said, “No. There are lots of people with worse luck than you.” I asked him, “Name one.” There was silence. Finally, he said, “Well, I don’t know any of them, but I’m sure they are out there.”

So I embarked on a quest to find those unlucky souls and collected what I called “Hard Luck Stories.” I found dozens of news articles and anecdotes of misfortune, often with a comedic twist. Then, on one occasion, I wanted to write a story about the occult, and I went to the Cliffside Park, N.J. library to do some research. I found a book in the card catalog (if you’re Gen Z, look up “library card catalog”), which I believe was titled, “The Witches of Ireland.” The card gave a brief description of the content, stating that the book told of Druidic witches who placed curses on four family names in Ireland. To my shock and horror, one of the cursed families was Gleason. I signed out the book, which was sadly bereft of any Gleason specifics. I returned the book by dropping it in the book return bin outside the library. They claimed I never returned the book and wanted to charge me $80 for a new book plus late fees. Worse, they revoked my library card. True story.

This became the basis for the plot of The Feeney Luck.

In the script, Kevin does something that I never did — attempt to reverse the curse. While I absolutely believe in bad luck, I’ve analyzed many of my own situations and decided that bad decisions are often a major contributor to bad luck. Bad luck often overshadows good luck, if that’s where our focus lies. And, strictly opinion, but over the course of a lifetime, good luck and bad luck even out.

The Feeney Luck screenplay was named one of ten finalists. I decided to fly to Austin to be there in case I won because this script is special to me. Much of it is autobiographical. The day before my departure, I read the script again, and… I laughed my ass off. My confidence soared, but I also figured that if somebody else won the top recognition, they wrote one heckuva funny story, and I would like to shake their hand. At the film festival, I felt very confident with only a sliver of doubt when Festival Director Mikel Fair announced the category. Whew! My name was called and I had a chance to say a few words before a full theater.

You Can’t Have Comedy Without a Little Drama

I almost didn’t make it to the film festival. On Friday afternoon before the Saturday event, I was killing time in my air conditioned motel room. The soda machine was broken, so I decided to walk about four blocks to get a few bottles of Gatorade. It was about 4:30 p.m. and I planned to get to the Commerce Street Bridge by 6:15 so I could photograph the largest bat colony in North America. I walked along the frontage road for I-35. A ways up ahead, I saw a woman carrying a cardboard box. She struggled with it, as if the weight of what was inside shifted. Frustrated, she threw the box down to the ground next to the driveway to a Marriott Courtyard Hotel and Capt. Benny’s Seafood Restaurant.

When she saw me approaching on the sidewalk, she charged toward me. She spoke gibberish. It might have been coherent, but the noise from the highway was very loud. I pointed up the road and told her I was just going to the convenience store. She did not want me to pass. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let the video from a nearby security camera tell the tale. Keep in mind that the camera adds 10,000 pounds.

She did not have a knife when she spread her arms to block the sidewalk. I tried to pass her and she pulled a knife from her waistband, then pushed me. I was not afraid, although she did have an opportunity to stab me. I backed away, keeping my eyes fixed on her and waving to attract attention from passing motorists. None of the Texas drivers slowed down. I appreciate the little Art Carney dance and sword twirl after I backed off and she claimed victory.

I did not get stabbed or cut. I am alive.

Her name is Kacy Leann Barton, age 35, and she has been charged with felony aggravated assault. Bail was set at $20,000. I pressed charges in the hopes that she will receive the psychiatric help or substance abuse rehab she needs to not try to stab passersby on the sidewalk. I must add that the response time of the Austin Police was quick — just one minute after I got off the phone with 911. Kudos to Sommer, the manager at the Extra Space Storage business who quickly alerted me that they capture the video. (I was pleased after seeing the video that my report to the officers was pretty accurate and specific. Those journalism skills are still intact).