It was in this capacity that he happened to be at the home of the composer Spontini, who lived in Paris at that time.
Thus encouraged to launch himself down a new path, Empis wrote two booklets in collaboration, of which the second, Vendôme en Espagne, was set to music in 1823 by Herold and Auber.
The following year, Empis began to write for the theatre and at the same time set forth on an administrative career, becoming at various times the secretary to the royal libraries, inspector of the crown house governing service, and ultimately head of the first division to the ministry of the royal house.
His dramas and comedies made him worthy of election to the Académie française in 1847, and then to succeed Arsène Houssaye as administrateur général of the Théâtre-Français in 1856.
While certain of Empis' plays became fashionable, notably La Mère et la fille, which ran at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in 1830 with Frédérick Lemaître in the principal role, they were mostly attracted a cool critical reception and disdain from the public.