Shelby Oaks has been a labor of love for writer and director Chris Stuckmann’s feature debut, a journey that composer James Burkholder was excited to be a part of, as he saw something “really special” about the horror movie after watching the first cut of it in early 2023. Mixing found footage, mockumentary, and narrative storytelling, Shelby Oaks follows Mia (Camille Sullivan), whose sister, Riley (Sarah Durn), disappeared 12 years ago while exploring the abandoned town of Shelby Oaks. During Mia’s desperate search for her long-lost sister, she uncovers new and disturbing evidence that leads to a supernatural evil Mia believes dates back to the sisters’ childhood.
Burkholder has worked in the music department on various movies and TV shows as a score coordinator, composer’s assistant, and score technical assistant, and has contributed additional music for scores. For Shelby Oaks, he co-composed alongside The Newton Brothers, who have been mentors to the composer and musician as he has worked with and for the duo on many projects — most notably, a few of Shelby Oaks’ executive producer Mike Flanagan’s popular horror limited series and the filmmaker’s The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep.
Below, Burkholder discusses his experience collaborating once again with his mentors on Shelby Oaks as a composer, the “unique challenge” behind writing music for a movie that combines multiple genres and styles, why he loves composing for horror, and more.
What was it about this movie that you were most excited about to collaborate with Chris Stuckmann on?
James Burkholder: I was talking to Chris yesterday, and it’s kind of funny … I’ve been on and off working on this movie for almost three years at this point. I got the first cut in January of 2023. And from the very first time I watched that first cut, it’s a very different movie now, but from that first cut, I saw something really, really special in this film. My wife and I actually watched that first cut together, and she’s also a really big [horror fan]. I’m a horror fan as well. She kind of got me into horror, actually. From the first time we saw that, she kind of watched it and she went, “You have to do this movie.” And I was like, “I totally agree.” It’s a really special one.
That’s awesome. And kudos to her for getting you into the best genre.
Burkholder: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, she gets all the credit.
You’ve worked on a bunch of different horror titles, whether it was Mike Flanagan projects or, you know, The Grudge, The Forever Purge, Werewolves. What is it about the horror genre that you love to compose for?
Burkholder: I think that it presents a lot of opportunities for some really kind of left field writing, which you don’t really get the opportunity to do in a lot of other genres. I mean, Shelby Oaks in particular, and, you know, all credit to Chris Stuckmann, who kind of let us go off in these really kind of strange directions with the music, which was so, so much fun.
I do have to ask, since you said that you were a horror fan, too, do you have a favorite or a couple of favorites from the genre?
Burkholder: I mean, I would say The Exorcist is like top four movies, period, for me. I love that film. The Conjuring, I would say, has a really kind of special place in my heart. It’s one that, like, Laura, my wife, and I … when we can’t decide what movie to watch tonight, let’s just watch The Conjuring. It’s just one of those that we’ve rewatched like a zillion times. And I love that whole universe, [it’s] really special to me.
Oh yeah. I feel the same. And you’re right. Highly rewatchable. Even The Exorcist, too. I love the classic pick and then the more modern classic pick.
Burkholder: Yeah, totally.
So, Flanagan is an executive producer on Shelby Oaks, and you’ve worked alongside The Newton Brothers when they composed scores for his projects like The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, and Midnight Mass. When you came on board this, can you share how the experience was similar or different from those previous collaborations?
Burkholder: I would say it’s different in that, you know, this one is the first one where I’m one of the composers. It kind of went from me being mentored by The Newton Brothers and then me learning how to do the job under them to kind of taking the reins alongside them, which was such an honor and such a unique opportunity for me to kind of break out there and be able to kind of collaborate with them, but also, you know, kind of do my own thing in a creative way, which was so special.
It’s on my watchlist, but I have not yet seen Werewolves. Was that the first time that you co-composed alongside The Newton Brothers?
Burkholder: Yeah, I believe it was.
Shelby Oaks is a blend of found footage, mockumentary, and narrative storytelling. And I was curious, when it comes to composing, is it ever, like, tricky or challenging when you’re working with different genres and styles in one tale, or does it really make a difference?
Burkholder: I think it makes a huge difference. You know, I think this movie is really unique in that way. I haven’t worked on too many projects that kind of bounce around genres in the same film, in the same 90 minutes. So, it definitely presented a unique challenge, but one that was super, super fun. I think we had a really good time trying to kind of sonically delineate all of those different kinds of modes that were in that, that Chris so deftly created.
Yeah, there was one scene that really stuck out that was really interesting to me, when Camille Sullivan’s character, Mia, she’s racing to the prison on a mission, right? So, it’s like the score’s a mix of adventure, thrills, and it’s building tension because she’s on her way to this scary place. But in the middle of all of that, it still maintains that scary vibe. How do you approach balancing the emotional range and tone of scenes like that?
Burkholder: That’s a really good question. I think that scene in particular is a really pivotal moment in the film. We went through several different iterations of that cue and in, you know, kind of trying to maintain that propulsion, because you really need that propulsion to kind of bring us into this, you know, next part of the film, but also maintaining that some really scary stuff is happening and some really scary stuff is about to happen and you want to feel that in the music. Balancing that was really kind of a collaboration with all of us, with Chris, with our editors, Patrick [Lawrence] and Brett [W. Bachman], who are amazing. Love those guys. Yeah, so it really is kind of one of those things where we’re all in cahoots together trying to dial that in.
Yeah, well, it was very effective. So you all, you nailed it.
Burkholder: Thank you. Thank you so much.
And on that similar thread, there are obviously moments of silence in the movie that are as effective as when you choose to insert a score or music. And I was wondering how much it was up to you concerning when to insert or create music for a scene versus when a moment should play out in silence. Is that something that Chris maybe would have requested or is that really more up to you guys to kind of figure out?
Burkholder: You know, like I was just saying, it really is a collaboration. It’s a discussion between everybody. And there were times when we would say, “Oh, we could put some music here.” And Chris would say, “I think we don’t need music there.” And it’s like, “Great, that’s fine.” And then also times when Chris would be like, “Hey, like, should we have some music here?” And we would kind of be like, “I think this scene is kind of speaking for itself. I think we can kind of lay [off] here.” So, you know, it’s really a case-by-case basis, but it is like every, and especially on this film, like every bit of it was a collaboration with everybody.
It must be really freeing and nice when you have a whole team of people that are willing to just openly collaborate … Like, there’s a sense of “we want to hear everyone’s ideas,” that’s kind of how it sounds like it was.
Burkholder: It absolutely was. And, I think that everybody in the cast and crew would say this about Chris, but he is super supportive and super open about letting people kind of do what they do best and kind of take things in the direction that … He really fostered that kind of really creative and really familial kind of feeling with everybody.
Besides the racing to the prison scene, I think one of my favorite parts of the score is actually right at the very end, where there’s that transition from the final moments and then to the end credits that really got me. So, I was wondering, do you have a favorite scene or composition from Shelby Oaks?
Burkholder: Man, I loved getting to score that. That was, as a composer, it’s always a very satisfying moment when you get to hit a cut like that. Like, that’s very satisfying. So, I loved working on that. And then, my other favorite, probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie, actually, is the library sequence when she’s doing all the research. And that actually was originally a different piece of music that’s now in the end credits. That scene used to be longer, we had to cut it down, and it necessitated a new piece of music there. But, rescoring that scene was really fun because it was like, this is a different version, let’s kind of take a different approach to it. And yeah, I really enjoyed scoring that scene.
Before I let you go, I wanted to give you this last kind of chance to just sort of share anything that you want to about the movie, your experience — the floor is yours.
Burkholder: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that this was such a unique opportunity for me to jump in on the ground floor of what I’m sure is going to be an incredible career for Chris Stuckmann. I really, really love this movie. And it’s been just such a pleasure to see all the different iterations of it and be a part of it and be a part of the process of, you know, creating this film and getting to write the music for it. And yeah, it’s really been a blast.
Shelby Oaks had its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest and will arrive in theaters on October 24th.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
