2002 Great Lakes Independent Film Festival

A Union in Wait

Category: Documentary Short  47min
Director: Ryan Butler

In May of 1981 Wendy Scott would meet a new co-worker named Susan Parker. Their new friendship would quickly transform into something more special. A Union In Wait takes a very personal look at Susan Parker and Wendy Scott's relationship and the controversy that would make their private life anything but private. Susan Parker and Wendy Scott are members of Wake Forest Baptist Church. In 1997 the couple decided they wanted to have a union ceremony in Wake Forest University's Wait Chapel, but the University told them no. Susan Parker, Wendy Scott, their church, and many others joined together to fight the school's decision in what would become a controversy that divided a community in North Carolina and made national headlines. A Union In Wait includes interviews with Andrew Sullivan, Barney Frank, Robert Knight, Jimmy Creech, Fred Phelps, Candace Gingrich and footage from the Millennium March on Washington.

Director: Ryan Butler
About Ryan Butler: Butler got his start in Myrtle Beach, SC working as a news photographer for WBTW TV-13 News (CBS) when he was sixteen years old. Shortly after leaving for college, he went to work for WXII News Channel 12 (NBC) as a news editor. While at NC School of the Arts, Butler was working on what is now his latest award-winning documentary film, A Union In Wait. The film is showing on Sundance Channel and PrideVision TV. Butler now works in Washington, DC for regular clients such as ABC 7 News and National Geographic Today.
www.ryanbutler.net