Our beloved local filmaker and citizen journalist Chuck Olsen — from The Uptake, Blogumentary, Minnesota Stories — just sold some exclusive video to the Associated Press of Rielle from his time with the Edwards campaign. Says Chuck:

I was with the Edwards campaign, similarly filming behind-the-scenes video, when he launched his campaign in New Orleans in December 2006. After NOLA we went to Iowa where Edwards drew a huge crowd. There was a celebratory mood in the air as we got back on the Edwards jet to fly to New Hampshire.

On that flight, there was a lot of booze and elation, excitement and hope. Edwards was in the back of the plane with Reille, and a couple of other campaign staffers. I remember Edwards turning on his iPod and grooving his head around. I went back to use the bathroom and when I came out, decided to chat with Reille. She was very outgoing, maybe even flirtatious, but really nice. I asked how she got the gig filming webisodes, and she said she met him in a bar and they clicked, and she proposed some online documentary showing his authenticity. She told me about some Hollywood sitcom writing and other weird projects she’d been involved with – nothing I’d ever heard of.

As an aside, check the comments on that post, where Robert Scoble leaves comments telling the AP he has a photo, too (when just 5 hours before he told Valleywag any footage he may have was jumbled in with Podtech’s assets). Chuck pwned Scoble!

Anyway, Chuck only had a few seconds of Rielle (what a stupid way to spell Reilly, btw), but the AP reported paid more than $100/second, which is not too shabby. It’s pretty cool to see Chuck’s byline in the photo caption on an AP story.

Am I surprised to find local citizen-journalism prophet Chuck Olsen in the midst of a National Enquirer-spurned Presidential candidate affair scandal holding some of the only known footage of the mistress filming Edwards? Well, I guess not. Chuck continues to insert himself into venues where traditional mainstream media have typically played alone, and for that, Minnesota is proud.

Chuck’s Flickr screenshot.