A fundraising gala for Guttersnipes, a film written by Searcy native and Disney’s Doug co-creator Joe Aaron, will be held at 7 p.m. Monday (Oct. 8) at Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St., North Little Rock. 

Guttersnipes, which explores themes in race relations, autism awareness and female empowerment, depicts the relationship between a homeless teenage girl and an abandoned 12-year-old autistic girl on a quest to find their mothers. 

“I am the father of an autistic girl,” Aaron said. “I wrote this story to address the nagging question, ‘What happens to my daughter if I’m not there to protect her?’”

The evening will include a silent auction, refreshments and a preview of the film followed by a conversation with Aaron and director Shuchi Talati. There will be a performance by Aaron’s daughter Lexi, co-star of HBO documentary Autism the Musical.

The silent auction will feature vacation packages to Colorado and Las Vegas, heirloom jewelry, designer handbags and Doug memorabilia.

Tickets are $25 and are available online at GuttersnipesFilm.com and at the door. 

Guttersnipes is being funded in part by Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform for creative projects. The project needs to raise $75,000 from the public by Oct. 30 to fulfill its Kickstarter goal so that filming can begin in Arkansas.