THUNDER BAY — As a young girl growing up in Thunder Bay, Chrystal Snow told her friends she would be an on-screen actress some day.
"They didn't believe me," Snow says, recalling that she was raised by a single mother and that the family was "fairly poor."
It took some time, but she ultimately proved her doubters wrong.
Most recently, Snow has created, produced and starred in a TV mini-series called Angel Dust, now showing on Amazon Prime and Apple TV Canada.
Her success came after a lot of hard work.
To escape an environment that had exposed her to addiction and abuse, she left Thunder Bay and moved to British Columbia when she was 18.
"I wasn't an addict myself. I decided young that I would not allow that to happen to me and my children," Snow said.
The mother of three said the name she chose for her company — Break The Chain Productions — refers to breaking the chain of addiction and abuse, and that she wants to motivate other women who may be stuck in the kind of situation that impacted her as a youth.
"I know that affects a lot of people in Thunder Bay," said Snow, whose siblings still live in the city, where she travelled for a visit this summer for the first time in 10 years.
Her interest in performing showed up early in her life in Thunder Bay, where she started modelling at the age of 12 and was one of a number of young women who participated in a weekly series in the newspaper.
After relocating from B.C. to Alberta, she got back into modelling "just for fun."
That led to signing up with an agency in Calgary, doing some live shows with Trailer Park Boys, and eventually to acting and producing.
Snow's first on-screen speaking role was in the 2016 horror film "Garroter" in which she's a dancer who tries to help other women stay away from abusive men.
A biography posted on the IMBd internet movie database quotes her reflecting on how it was a role that resonates in her real life: "I am that woman that helps other women."
After the COVID-19 pandemic derailed her plan to produce a $5 million "true story" film, she fundraised for a lower-budget pilot series for Angel Dust, a supernatural drama about an angel who's disciplined for disobeying God, and must complete assigned tasks to regain his wings.
Actor Daniel Baldwin, who's had a lengthy TV and movie career, is one of the stars.
Filming was done last year in Medicine Hat, Alta., where Snow lives.
The first season of the series, comprised of four episodes, was released last month on Amazon Prime and Apple TV Canada.
Snow said planning is underway to shoot the second season.
Angel Dust was entered into a number of film festivals including in New York, Toronto and Montreal, and won an award (Best Acting) in April at the London International Monthly Film Festival.
The trailer can be viewed on YouTube.
