By Robert Goldrich

NEW YORK --

To put it in baseball vernacular, industry vet Tom Mooney described his shop, The Outhouse, as being “Moneyball” for production. Moneyball–the book and the movie–chronicles Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s implementation of a philosophy for building a ballclub which, despite a challenged budget, manages to compete with the mega-payroll, major market teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and L.A. Dodgers.

Rather than huge salaries for superstars, the A’s have achieved success with up-and-coming talent as well as savvy experienced players who fit well-defined niches integral to winning baseball. “It all comes down to working smart, with talented people and no overhead,” said Mooney who, unlike Beane, has more than one team. In fact, Mooney has assembled a group of companies to pull together work fast, smart and with minimal overhead. “No one is on staff until we shoot,” he said. “It reminds me of the beginning of my career–it was all about production, new talent, serving agencies, mostly with young talented people who want to work, who want to get in the game. Now with new technology and relatively inexpensive cameras, smaller crews can accomplish a lot, and talent can more easily access the tools they need. You can edit at home, for example, thanks to new technologies. There’s a new generation of talent that can direct, edit, shoot. They can do it all–from work on YouTube and all the other platforms that have come into prominence while still being able to turn out more traditional content for television.”

Mooney and colleague Dan Klein have positioned The Outhouse as an umbrella for several boutique production companies with varied filmmaking talents, including ContagiousLA, Impressionista Films in New York and Mooney’s own separate shop, ADDigital. (Mooney is president/exec producer and Klein serves as partner/exec producer of both The Outhouse and ADDigital.)

“Each company manages its own team but we help each other out. They’ve asked me to help find the right work and to close those jobs–whether they be from agencies, agency creatives who are out on their own and have a client, even client-direct stuff,” related Mooney. “If I land a job for Contagious and they need resources and people in New York, they can tap into some of my talent and people–or I can use theirs if production is on the West Coast.

Additionally, The Outhouse has nonexclusive arrangements with such talent as directors Charles Wittenmeier and the Scigliano Brothers, and Engel Post, an editing/postproduction house in Brooklyn. “We tap into whoever and whatever the job calls for,” said Mooney, adding, “We don’t ask for or give exclusivity. It’s not the way of the new production world.”

The Outhouse business model is a far cry from the one Mooney was known for earlier in his career, most notably during a 16-year tenure as an owner/co-founder of the since closed Headquarters, a high-profile commercial production company with big-name talent, director guarantees and other operating costs constituting a significant overhead.

“Those days are for the most part gone—some companies can pull it off but it’s not nearly as prevalent or relevant,” observed Mooney. “You need to be quick and nimble today, able to do more work for less money. As entrepreneurial shops cooperating under one umbrella [The Outhouse] and collectively offering resources across the country, we have the flexibility to take on all kinds of jobs and to be responsive to agencies and clients.”

Mooney contends that also helping The Outhouse and its companies to do more for less money are his years of experience in commercialmaking and those of his colleague, exec producer Klein, whose pedigree is in TV production. Prior to joining ADDigital as partner/EP in 2009, Klein was the exec producer of Wonderland Productions for five years. During his run there, Wonderland produced specials, series, digital projects, promos and spots for clients such as HBO, ESPN, BET, PBS, Unilever and Arm & Hammer.

ContagiousLA has such talent as Andrew Laurich, who earned inclusion into SHOOT‘s 2011 New Directors Showcase, and Jeff Jenkins, part of last year’s Showcase. Impressionista Films features director Zack Resnicoff whose work spans spots and longer-form fare, including his short film The Clearing, which performed well on the festival circuit, garnering honors at the Hamptons International Film Festival. Resnicoff made his first directorial splash as part of the helming duo Zack & J.C. which was selected for SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase in 2006 on the strength of a Mountain Dew spec spot titled “Foley.”  Resnicoff and J.C. Khoury went their separate ways in ’09, embarking on solo directing careers. ADDigital has access to such talent as director Jimmy Siegel, known for his prior lengthy tenure as a vice chairman and creative at BBDO New York. Siegel directs select jobs via ADDigital, including for example an Environmental Protection Agency PSA for his agency Siegel Strategies.

Other recent Outhouse jobs include: a Resnicoff-directed HBO Game of Thrones/ESPN tie-in done via ADDigital; A Dr. ExPress client-direct assignment helmed by the Scigliano Brothers and produced by ADDigital; and a Carhartt “Iditarod” spot directed by Laurich through ContagiousLA for agency Team Detroit.

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