Ready to ignite like the fiery glow her name implies, yet as calm, cool and collected as a wintry field, Ember Snow has her red-hot brand down to an ice-cold science. Yet she remains humble and down-to-earth, no matter how far she’s come (and how many times she’s come) since her first scenes hit the internet back in 2017.
“When I got into the industry originally, I was very guarded and cautious,” she reflected. “I still am, but I learned to trust the process very quickly. I learned that a lot of the negative stereotypes of the business, particularly when it comes to shoots with the big companies, are not true.”
When I got into the industry originally, I was very guarded and cautious
After navigating the once-daunting studio system, Snow rose the occasion (as did her co-stars, appearing in more than 150 releases on a variety of paysites.
“So, that made it easier for me to expand my comfort zone, try new things and find new boundaries,” she said. “There are still lots of things I haven’t done that I want to; I just haven’t been given the chance yet.
As many stars great and small have discovered, there are inevitably slow periods in a busy shooting schedule, which led Snow to a very fortuitous expansion of her career path.
“I got into camming in April 2017 as a necessity,” she reminisced. “Bookings with my original agent dried up and the money wasn’t flowing. So, as I sought to get out of my contract, I turned to camming as a way to keep money coming in and stay relevant, until I found a new way to book pro adult shoots. I was still very new in the business and had only done a dozen or so shoots; half of them weren’t even for big companies, so I had to learn a lot of these things on my own.”
Now, she is one of the highest- performing cam models on Streamate, and also self-produces content for premium social media platforms like SextPanther and OnlyFans.
With her sights set on directing feature movies, crushing camming contests and evolving her growing repertoire of businesses, Snow opened up about her aspirations in this exclusive Cam Star of the Month interview.
XBIZ: What is your favorite platform to stream on and why?
SNOW: Streamate has been my “home” since September 2017. The best things about it are the fact that you can set your own rates and that you aren’t “forced” to perform in public. On Streamate, you don’t do any below-the-waist nudity in the public room, so all the wild stuff is saved for private when you are actually being paid. With a lot of the other sites, you have two guys who are doing all the tipping and a thousand guys watching for free. That’s not fair to the guys who are tipping. So, with Streamate, you only perform for people who pay. That’s fair.
XBIZ: Discuss which non-camming revenue streams you pursue, from homemade clips to premium social media. What keeps you busiest and what is the most lucrative?
SNOW: OnlyFans has exploded, as of recently. It used to be very hard to put a lot of time into it and grow the fan base. However, what I started doing was lowering my monthly subscription and then offering them my personally produced clips in advance of the general release date and at a rate lower than the other clip stores (ManyVids, etc). The result has been amazing. I’ve also been shooting a lot more personally produced content that I share with my co-stars. It’s increased my exposure in ways I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else.
XBIZ: Tell us about your most loyal cam fans. What kinds of interactions do they love the most? How do you form close bonds while still maintaining boundaries?
SNOW: My best camming fans are the ones who get involved with the shows, but then when the show is over, treat me with respect and just want to know how I am doing. That makes it easier to just sit and chat with them on SextPanther or OnlyFans without there being some kind of “expectation” that I have to perform 24/7. Sure, there are fans who want me to be hypersexual all the time, but they are usually tipping for it on a regular basis. If you can’t afford to tip, then just be nice, respectful and have something fun to talk about.
XBIZ: What is your approach to growing a highly-engaged social media following on Twitter, Instagram and beyond?
SNOW: Posting all the time? Haha. To be honest, I have been trying to grow my social media ever since I got in the business, but it’s difficult. People who have started in the business years after me have four times the followers. I have really tried to make these things happen, but my IG has been shut down several times and currently my official IG is shadow-banned, so I am trying to build my backup page.
XBIZ: Share what a “typical” day on cam is like for you in terms of your preferred chat goals, fun themed days you’ve hosted and such.
SNOW: On Streamate, the key is to go private or do “Gold Shows” where a large group of guys can all pay to watch the same show. A typical day is starting at 6 p.m., taking a break for dinner around 10, and then going back on until 3 a.m. I gave up on having “goals” because, as with any other business, there are good days and bad days. You just have to go with the flow and accept what is good and what is bad.
XBIZ: Discuss your strategy for winning camming contests. How do you pace yourself and rise to the top during these competitive events?
SNOW: The only thing I can say on this topic is perseverance. If the contest is a single day, then you have to stay on cam as much as possible and try to out-endure the other girls. If it is a multiple-day contest, then plan out the best schedule you can so that you can make as much money as possible and also eat and rest (those are key). I have other strategies I employ, but I can’t give away all my secrets.
XBIZ: How do you deal with time management, since you juggle traditional shoots, independent content and camming?
SNOW: I have a really good team that I work with. The people who wrote, produced and directed my adult feature film “Choice” (which was nominated for awards in 2020) handle the majority of my content shoots, assist in social media posts and clip store sales, and make sure my calendar is up to date. I feel like you need to have a solid team behind you if you are going to make any kind of a name for yourself in the business.
XBIZ: What’s ahead for you in 2021 and beyond?
SNOW: A lot! More pro shoots, more content trade shoots and a lot of camming. On top of that, my team is launching some new things that we hope will be very successful. We’re starting a new series of shoots where we want to introduce new female talent; we encourage cam models to get in touch with us, so we can give them a positive introduction to the adult film industry.
I’m also planning a tour of the U.S., hitting all 50 states. The plan is to find fans who want to sponsor signing events, live shows and help us film adult content everywhere in the U.S. We have a special dedicated e-mail for that. It’s EmberDoesAmerica@gmail. com.
The mainstream TV pilot I produced in 2019 was very well-received; it won Best Comedy at CineKink 2020, but with the pandemic, it was difficult to get it out to potential studios to be picked up. While we’re still shopping that, we’re also in pre-production on two mainstream features and three mainstream TV pilots, as well as developing several adult features.
We just had a major funding deal for most of these fall through, so we’re back to square one as far as financing, but we’ve had a lot of success with this in the past, so we’re determined to see all this through.
Lastly, we’re looking to get our adult feature “Choice” into a wide release. We were able to squeak by with the bare minimum so that it could qualify for awards season, but the general public still hasn’t had a chance to see this film. It stars Cherie DeVille, Jake Adams, Chloe Cherry, Christiana Cinn, Nathan Bronson (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Gina Valentina and Jill Kassidy. And yes, I’m in it too.
