Getting a rise out of Aids education

The Three Amigos are a welcome breath of fresh air in the ongoing fight against HIV/Aids. Created and produced by South African Brent Quinn and Canadian Firdaus Kharas, these three latex lads currently star in 20 PSA's that talk directly, but humorously, about how safe sex can prevent the spread of HIV/Aids.
 
The inserts speak openly and frankly about very pressing issues. This the prophylactic pals do with consummate ease. Getting them to speak in four different languages was somewhat more difficult. It was this task that faced The Video Lab and The Audio Lab Johannesburg, and in particular Carina Steyl and Peter Cornell.
 
The team was chosen to bring the talking condoms to life in English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Sotho. "This was a huge job," explains Cornell, "Having to post-sync four different languages to animation is a lot of work." Anyone who understands the animation process knows what an understatement this is. The original Canadian English versions had already been completed, but in order to make more of an impact locally, these needed to be translated into the  four other languages.
 
An impressive standard had already been set in Canada, with some of the country's top voice artists donating their skills (as did everybody involved in the production). The Audio Lab had to match this and so they called in some of the best talent around: Pure Monate's Kagiso Lediga, Joey Rasdien and David Kau provided voices, as did Vusi Kunene, Mike Mvelase, Moshidi Motsega, Antonio Summerton and Andre Hattingh, to mention but a few.
 
The Three Amigos has already picked up two awards, it came second at ZoieFest, in the PSA category, and on Thursday 10 June, The Three Amigos will be awarded a prestigious Golden Reel.
 
Archbishop Desmond Tutu commented, "I congratulate all those who have been involved in creating The Three Amigos PSAs. They have made an outstanding contribution to the campaign against HIV infection."
 
"The Three Amigos has the ability to hold peoples' attention through the use of comedy, while reinforcing the message that safe sex is the only way to turn the tide on HIV/Aids. This has been a hugely exciting and fun project for us to be involved with and I am sure it will have significant impact on all those it reaches. The Video Lab is proud to be able to say that they were indeed, the biggest sponsor of this project in the country," concludes Dave Keet, The Video Lab Johannesburg Managing Director.