As a film composer, Andy Grush '00 doesn't find many opportunities to stretch out. Like many of his peers, Grush tends to pen a lot of pieces that can be counted in seconds, not minutes. But recently Grush and his writing partner Taylor Newton Stewart, collectively known as the Newton Brothers, created a six-minute composition that was set to play an important role at the end of new film Doctor Sleep, a big-budget adaptation of the Stephen King novel, out this month.
We loved it, [director] Mike Flanagan loved it, the producers loved it, the studio loved it, Grush said from Los Angeles. Then two days before the final print of the film, Mike said, What happens if we mute that music? You guys are going to murder me, but let's try it.' And so we tried it, and it did something good for the film.
Grush thought the piece of music was perfect, and he knew it wasn't perfect for the film. This hard-fought slice of wisdom has helped the composer understand his job in creating a film score.
We are not making an album; if we want to write an album we need to do that, he said. It's important to be collaborative and know [that] when you need to pivot with the director, you can.
It can be a little harder to score something funny or romantic. [With] horror you have a lot of room. I really like ballads, whether they come from a band or in classical music, so I feel at home in horror. Setting a mood is so important and music is always a key element in doing that.
-Andy Grush '00
Over the past decade, the Newton Brothers have become an in-demand team, scoring feature films and television series for USA, Hulu, and Netflix. But Grush almost missed his chance at Hollywood success. As a teenager, he spent hours playing music (he was a self-described classical nerd). But somehow, in the late 90s, he found himself in a finance job he didn't love and slipping into his mid-20s. For fun, he scored student films, not taking it too seriously. Then a friend and fellow composer, seeing Grush's skills, told him he needed to quit the office life and get serious about music.
I was 25 or 26 and applying to Berklee with all these people, young students, who were really talented, he said. I had some experience, but I had so much to learn. I needed to take a deep dive into the technology and everything else the school had to offer.
Study Film Scoring at Berklee
Learn the art, craft, and tools of scoring for a variety of media, with Berklees Film Scoring Department. Oddly enough, Grush's first credit came writing music on 2003 film Pauly Shore Is Dead. Looking at his current resume or his student work, he couldn't be further away from Pauly Shore humor (or that suit-and-tie finance job)-for one Berklee assignment, Grush found himself scoring a surf video with ominous music that might make viewers assume the wave shredder was about to be shredded himself by some Freddie Krueger of the deep. But in 2006, when he met Stewart, who was working for Hans Zimmer at the time, he found a collaborator who understood his dark leanings.
The Newton Brothers have become Flanagan's go-to team to score his horror masterpieces-the pair worked with the director from his breakthrough, 2013's Oculus, through current Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, as well as Doctor Sleep. With the duo also finding assignments scoring features about monster sharks, malicious spirits, serial killers, and other things that go bump in the night, they have become experts in the genre.
It can be a little harder to score something funny or romantic, he said. [With] horror you have a lot of room. I really like ballads, whether they come from a band or in classical music, so I feel at home in horror. Setting a mood is so important and music is always a key element in doing that.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Maleficent Composer: Every Note Points to the Story Geoff Zanelli B.M. 96 talks about his creative process, his deep love for fantasy films, and the importance of making mistakes.
In the Game Berklee Today
Spring
2019
Volume
30
Number
3
From Tower Records to Captain Marvel Pinar Toprak B.M. '00, the first woman to score a major Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, shared her creative process and the inspiration she found in old-school listening booths.
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
How Shoegaze Lived, Died, and Came Back to Influence a New Generation If you like Coldplay, Beach House, or even the 1975, then you probably like shoegaze-even if you didnt know it.
Latest
Oh the Horror: Andy Grush '00 on Composing for Doctor Sleep The fim scoring alumnus explains why youll never hear the six-minute opus he wrote for the new adaptation of Steven Kings sequel to The Shining.
Dont Ask Ron Carter to Play a Root Note The legendary jazz bassist regaled a packed recital hall with stories about playing with Miles Davis and tips about his signature bass style.
Berklee Celebrates BMI Day with Special Guests, Scholarship Presentation Renowned composer Harry Gregson-Williams led a recording session, presented an award, and gave the keynote address for Berklee's annual BMI Day.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
As a film composer, Andy Grush '00 doesn't find many opportunities to stretch out. Like many of his peers, Grush tends to pen a lot of pieces that can be counted in seconds, not minutes. But recently Grush and his writing partner Taylor Newton Stewart, collectively known as the Newton Brothers, created a six-minute composition that was set to play an important role at the end of new film Doctor Sleep, a big-budget adaptation of the Stephen King novel, out this month.
