FILM CREW WINS CASH PRIZE FOR CONDOM AD.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Leave it to the young adults of Generation X, who grew up in the AIDS era and whose introduction to the birds and bees came with a chapter on safe sex, to hawk ``protection'' to the masses.

Hart High School graduates Kevin Lassard and Amber Cook, along with California Institute of the Arts grad Christopher Bowers and cameraman Denard Gabriel won a prize for a 20-second spot for LifeStyles Condoms.

The four will share $5,000 for second place in a contest sponsored by Ansell Personal Products, the Eatontown, N.J., company that manufactures LifeStyles condoms. So far this fiscal year, LifeStyles has sold about 80 million condoms, said Carol Carrozza, a company spokeswoman.

Winners were announced last week in the contest that drew hundreds of entries. Two New Jersey men shared the $10,000 first prize, and two Los Angeles men came in fifth.

Carrozza said the company will take commercials created by the top 10 contestants to MTV, Comedy Central and network-affiliate TV stations across the country in hopes the ads will be telecast. Cable stations have been airing condom advertisements since 1994, but it wasn't until fall that some other stations - in Boston, Seattle and Chico - broadcast prophylactic commercials, Carrozza said.

LifeStyles, second to Trojans in condom sales, was the first brand to be advertised on cable TV, Carrozza said.

Lassard, 20, is a 1995 Hart High graduate who attended College of the Canyons for two semesters. The Valencia resident has applied to the theater department at California Institute of the Arts and hopes to begin classes there in the fall.

Bowers, 24, graduated from CalArts two years ago with a bachelor's degree in character animation.

Lassard and former Hart classmate Cook, 23, of Canyon Country acted in the commercial. Bowers was the director, and his friend Gabriel, 27, was the cameraman and lighting director. Gabriel also collected scrap film from his job at a Burbank film processing company, and the group used it to make the commercial.

``One man's garbage is another man's movie stock,'' Lassard explained.

In the commercial, Lassard said he plays a nerd enjoying an intimate embrace with Cook's character. She calls a halt to their passionate encounter, telling him they can't go any further ``without protection,'' Lassard said.

The amorous man dashes into the bathroom, from which the sounds of hammering, sawing and power tools can be heard. When he emerges, he is wearing a metallic contraption that bears a slight resemblance to armor.

The young woman, holding up a LifeStyles condom, tells him that the latex contraceptive is closer to what she had in mind.

Lassard - whose high school stage credits included roles in Hart productions of ``The Music Man,'' ``Wait Until Dark'' and ``You Can't Take It With You'' - said he and his fellow filmmakers spent about a week preparing for, shooting and editing the commercial.

``We actually filmed it in my mom's bedroom,'' he said. ``The shoot was fun. Afterward, my mom made dinner for all of us.''

Bowers, a Valencia resident now between jobs, said the $1,250 each that he and his friends will pocket ``couldn't have come at a better time.'' Cook needs to get her car fixed. Gabriel needs to repay some student loans. Lassard, who works at Close Encounters Paintball Games in Valencia, wants to move into his own place.

``At the moment, all four of us desperately need this (money),'' Bowers said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (color in SAC edition only) Denard Gabriel, from left, Kevin Lassard, top, Christopher Bowers and Amber Cook won a prize for creating a condom advertisement.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News