Composer Andy Dollerson Elevates Independent Film Sound With NUGEN Audio

Austin-based composer and producer Andy Dollerson is leaning on NUGEN Audio’s plug-ins to meet the demands of independent film-makers, enabling festival-ready stereo and surround deliveries without the resources of a full post‑production team.

Blending electroacoustic training with practical production experience across genres, Dollerson has become a trusted collaborator for directors seeking polished audio on tight budgets. To achieve this, he turns to NUGEN Audio’s intuitive, technically robust toolset.

"I'm not a technical person, or a mix engineer by any stretch, but when you work with independent filmmakers, sometimes they don't have the budget to do both stereo and surround mixes," Dollerson explained. "So, I need tools that let me deliver something festival‑worthy without having to learn every detail of post‑production engineering."

He first incorporated NUGEN's Halo Upmix nearly a decade ago, when requests for both stereo and multichannel mixes began to rise for festival submissions and theatrical screenings. "I worked in multichannel stuff back at university and since then I’ve mostly been in stereo," he continued. "At one point, there were a couple of filmmakers who wanted both, and that was when I came across Halo Upmix. It just seemed like a really good solution for non‑technical, quality upmixing to surround."

Manual surround building proved time-consuming and problematic, but Halo Upmix streamlined the process. "I tried doing it the standard way — mixing directly in the DAW, and I came across so many issues," he said. "Then, I found NUGEN and the plug-ins just kind of solved all my problems."

Halo Upmix was pivotal on Sitka: Hidden Wonders, a nature documentary currently on the festival circuit and already collecting awards. The director wanted to begin in surround while ensuring a pristine stereo deliverable. Dollerson rented a full surround system for the initial mix, then used NUGEN's Halo Downmix to create the stereo version, which he describes as "the same as Halo Upmix in terms of ease of use. I'm aware of the phase issues and the stuff that happens when you try to downmix just in the DAW. NUGEN provides a solution to do it for you in a way that doesn't create phase issues. You get good, clean surround or stereo sound, depending on which way you go. I love how you can start super basic, and literally just hit a preset, but there’s lots of scope to get further into it as you get more adventurous."

For finalising mixes, Dollerson also relies on ISL, NUGEN’s True Peak Limiter. "I used the limiter on all the film stuff," he said. "It's brilliant for surround because it monitors all the channels for peaking.” Broadcast deliveries see him reach for LM‑Correct. “I used it for something I did for the Smithsonian," he recalled. "They needed two versions, and they gave me the specs, so I just ran it through LM‑Correct. The plug-in nailed it."

Although he owns several other NUGEN plug-ins, including AB Assist for comparison work, Halo Upmix, Halo Downmix, ISL and LM‑Correct form the core of his toolkit. For Dollerson, their biggest advantage is professional output without deep technical overhead. "It’s a great entry point," he said. "Being able to give directors something that is festival‑worthy, proper professional level, without all the technical know‑how — that’s huge."

He also highlights NUGEN's user-friendly design, especially in Halo Upmix. "I love how you can move stuff around in the image just by dragging the surround panel," he said. "It's super appealing and really fun to use."

Dollerson's career began in the UK, where he studied electroacoustic composition at Birmingham University before completing a master’s in composition. After relocating to Austin, Texas, he toured as a keyboardist and co‑founded DOsounds, a production company operating between Austin and Brooklyn, New York. He now focuses on producing independent artists, including British singer‑songwriter Alice Watts and Brazilian vocalist Alexia Bomtempo, alongside selected film and documentary projects.

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