By Matthew Mosk
The woman who had a lengthy affair with former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards has said she met the former senator at the Regency Hotel bar in New York City, and thought he was giving off a special "energy."

But how did Rielle Hunter become a videographer for Edwards in the run up to his presidential campaign announcement? Two former Edwards staffers said this week that the brain behind the "webisodes" was actually a Hollywood producer whose hit titles include the indy film "Swingers" and "Scream." The producer, Cary Woods, set up a June 2006 meeting to introduce Hunter to Edwards's top political aides and to describe his vision for the personalized, web-based videos that would put Hunter and Edwards in close proximity for months -- including at the event where he formally announced his candidacy.

"The producer introduced us to [Rielle] and said, 'Hey I've got this cool idea,'" a former Edwards aide who was privy to the discussions with Woods said. That led to a lunch in Georgetown at the restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Fahrenheit, attended by Woods, Hunter and a top Edwards adviser.

Woods did not respond to messages left with his Los Angeles production company office and with the public relations agent at Plum TV, a New York-based lifestyle television network he helped found.

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