Etienne Forget

Etienne Forget is the kind of composer who doesn’t really fit into any neat box, which is maybe why his soundtracks hit so hard. Coming out of France, he’s got this whole stew of influences going on—imagine someone who grew up digging Autechre and Björk, but also has a thing for Nick Drake and, weirdly enough, Debussy and Stravinsky. That’s Etienne. He doesn’t just stick to one lane, which is probably why his work feels fresh even when he’s scoring yet another sci-fi show. He got his start early, still a student while composing for French TV’s “Hero Corp,” and instead of just grinding through school, he snagged a gig with Audi’s Talent Awards program. Not your average college side project. Through that, he scored some pretty solid short films, like “The Speed of The Past” with Mélanie Thierry and “The Last Journey of the Enigmatic Paul WR” starring Hugo Becker. That stuff put him on the radar, landing him work with Netflix on “The Forest” and teaming up with director Julien Lacombe for “Missions.” That last one even got him a prize at the Jerry Goldsmith Awards in 2018, so clearly, people were paying attention. By 2018, his whole blend of classical and modern caught the eye of QUAD TV and he landed “Victor Hugo: Enemy of the State,” which scored him nominations at both the UCMF and Jerry Goldsmith Awards the next year. He didn’t slow down—2019 saw him scoring the doc series “Insignificant” (snagged another Goldsmith prize, no big deal) and jumping back into “Missions” for season two. Basically, if you’ve watched cool French TV lately, you’ve probably heard his stuff—even if you didn’t realize it.