Director Stephen Shimek recently sat down with us to discuss Murder at the Embassy, his new film that’s out now in theaters and on demand. It’s a murder mystery set in 1930s Cairo starring Mischa Barton along with Mido Hamada and Richard Dillane. It’s the second installment in the Miranda Green series and is is fun Friday night watch, especially if you like puzzles, mystery, history, and smart women detectives.
Over Zoom, Shimek chatted about what it took to bring Murder at the Embassy to life. He opened up about the rare privilege of filming on-site at the Pyramids in Egypt and even securing access to locations where no movie has filmed before. Read on for the full conversation, and a hint of what’s to come for Mischa Barton’s Miranda Green.
The Interview with Director Stephen Shimek of ‘Murder at the Embassy‘
Ayla Ruby: Hi, it’s lovely to meet you.
Stephen Shimek: Great to meet you as well. Thanks for having me.
Ayla Ruby: No problem. I’m really excited to chat. I was doing another interview and I said that this movie was just so massively fun and just unexpected in the best way, so congratulations.
Stephen Shimek: Thank you so much. I’m glad to hear it. That’s really nice to hear.
Ayla Ruby: Yeah, I loved it and I love this genre. Can you talk about what appeals about it to you and why we needed to hear more from Miranda Green?
Stephen Shimek: Oh, for sure. I love anything, any movie that can make me lean in and want to be a part of the story and participate is something that I’m all about. I think murder mysteries are uniquely capable of hooking you in and bringing you in and making you feel like you can be a part of this and you can solve this. And it was great picking Miranda Green up again for the second chapter in her adventure as a private detective, because in the first movie, she’s a florist that ends up solving a real life murder and then decides to go into business for herself. And now, we get to see what the early stages of that career are like and how she’s feeling about things and whether or not she feels like she’s bitten off more than she can chew or how to navigate the politics of the whole thing. So it was really cool to step back into it.
And from day one when Mischa started, we were shooting with Mischa and Mido day one against the backdrop of the Great Pyramids of Giza. So it was a very overwhelming day already, but she just starts delivering her lines in Miranda’s trademark accent. And I was standing next to a producer at the time. We were like, “Yeah, well, Miranda Green’s back.” So it was like just riding a bike. We were back in it again and ready to do more, so it was a good time.
Ayla Ruby: Now, you mentioned day one you were filming in Egypt, and I was going to ask about this a little bit later, but I’d love to talk about it now, that made the story so much more lovely and brought so much more to it. How did that come about? Was that always the plan? And what went into that for prep from your perspective, if that’s the first day?
Stephen Shimek: So yes. What an incredible opportunity and privilege to shoot in Egypt. We were managing different teams across three continents, and that does not come without its challenges, but ultimately for me, it’s one of the things that I’m the most proud of with this production just because each one of these teams that have never been in the same room together physically are all working together on one single goal, and they really brought the best that they had and we were able to make something special together. So I’m super proud of that, but I’m also just floored that the opportunity presented itself at all. Egypt is a location for me that I’ve been obsessed with ever since I was a kid and never really contemplated the idea of being able to go and I’d never been, and this movie’s the thing that brought me there. And so, now, I’m like, “Well, I’ve got to go back and I need to start telling other people they should go,” because it really is so stunning and you can feel just the thousands of years of human history all around you, and it’s a very special place.
The crew there was fantastic. And we were able to shoot on the Nile, at the Pyramids. We were able to shoot at these shops. We shot at a street, I can’t remember exactly now, going to sound so dumb, but there were always people on set telling us a little bit more about where we were. And they pointed to a mosque that was just a few feet away, that’s beautiful and big part of our backdrop. And he is like, “Yeah, that building’s 700 years old or something.” And I was just like, “What? I don’t understand.” But it was stunning. Everywhere you look, there’s something marvelous and ancient and very cool.
Ayla Ruby: I love that. Did that history, did that sense of wonder change anything for you once you were on the ground and filming? Did you see something amazing or encounter something amazing and think this would be fantastic if we included it somehow.
Stephen Shimek: Yeah, actually there was a location while we were scouting at the Pyramids that I was dying to be able to shoot at, and we kept on having to get out these overheads because we would go scout. They don’t shut that place down for anybody. It’s the biggest tourist attraction in the world. There’s constantly people coming in and out. And so, whenever we would go, I would try and communicate where the spot was that I was interested in and how do we get there. And there was a lot of conversation getting to the point of actually being on the same page about exactly what spot I was talking about because I wanted to shoot a part of the film in an area that looked like an active archeological dig site. And there was this one beautiful location that I was hoping we’d be able to get.
And I don’t hear all the behind-the-scenes about exactly what went into getting that spot for us. But while we’re shooting there, one of the on-set archeologists steps up to me talking about the area that we’re in. And he’s like, “Well, no one’s ever filmed anything over here.” And I’m like, “I’m sorry, what?” He’s like, “No, no one’s ever shot anything in this area. Of course, people have been to the pyramids, but right here, no one’s ever filmed anything here before.” And I was just like, “What?”
It forced me to stop looking at everything as these beautiful backdrops that I’m trying to line up for these shots and to be present and appreciate where I was. And he was here telling us where we could and couldn’t walk, and where we could put our equipment. And there were active archeological dig sites a few feet in either direction. There were people actively still uncovering things in the desert of Egypt, and it was just this really inspiring, cool thing that we got to do that I’m super grateful for. There were so many stories like that there were just stunning.
Ayla Ruby: I’m amazed about that, just the fact that there are on-set archeologists because it makes sense thinking about it, but that’s fantastic. So compared to the first film, you’re working with Mischa again, you’re working with some of the cast. How does that work as far as vision and shorthand and just you’re not reinventing the wheel? What does that look like for just working together?
Stephen Shimek: Yeah, absolutely. I think every actor is going to know more about their character than I ever could. They’re going to take that character, they’re going to turn it into a real person, and then they’re going to bring that work to the set. And you just amplify that. When Mischa’s coming from a movie where we’ve already done this and we’re in a new chapter, she’s already done a movie’s worth of character work on that character, and now we’re going into a new chapter. And I already mentioned how it was just like getting right back at it again, picking up right where we left off. It was so bizarre because it felt like that time in between the movies just went away and we were just doing it again. But Miranda Green’s a particularly challenging character just because she’s so intelligent, but she’s also still socially lacking a few social graces to know how and how not to offend people and stuff like that. And Mischa’s so good at riding that line and bringing so much likeability and lovability to that character that it was really easy to just slip right back into it.
Ayla Ruby: She’s very easy to root for, which I really just appreciated seeing on screen.
Stephen Shimek: Yeah, it’s fantastic.
Ayla Ruby: I know we’re getting pretty close on time, but I’d love to know if you haven’t talked about it because you’ve already talked about so many interesting things, what was the most interesting thing in bringing this story to life or the most challenging thing to do professionally?
Stephen Shimek: Gosh, I guess one of the biggest challenge is, again, it comes back to, I think a big part of directing is communicating. And then, when you’re communicating with multiple teams in multiple different countries, it just gets that much more complicated. And so, it’s always a welcome challenge for me to expand my capability to do that. And this movie to me just provided so many opportunities to have to think on the fly in the moment and make adjustments where needed. But I’m really proud of what our team was able to pull off together.
Ayla Ruby: Is there anything else you want people to know that we haven’t talked about or that what’s next for you or anything you want to share?
Stephen Shimek: Well, the movie comes out November 14th. If you can see it in a theater, you should just because those vistas are gorgeous. But it will also be available on demand and streaming. We’re currently working on number three. Hopefully, that’ll come to life in the future.
Ayla Ruby: Can you share if you’re directing The [Mystery of the] Golden Spear or?
Stephen Shimek: Oh, you know the title!
Ayla Ruby: I do.
Stephen Shimek: I don’t know how much information’s out there or not, but yeah, I am currently slated to direct that film.
Ayla Ruby: Yay!
Stephen Shimek: I don’t know exactly when they’re going to pull the trigger, but we’re very close. I’ve been working really closely with the writer and we’re just trying to find a new, fresh approach to keep Miranda moving forward in her career and personally and as a character and everything else.
Ayla Ruby: I love that. That’s exciting. Thank you so much for chatting. I appreciate it.
Stephen Shimek: Yeah, thank you.
Murder at the Embassy is now in theaters and on demand.
And for Miranda Green fans, the third movie in the series, The Mystery of the Golden Spear, is currently in the works.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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