Last month I went to Sharkey’s in Newport Beach to celebrate my bestfriend’s 27th birthday. While there I did what typical young guys do and had a great time. Later that night a guy pointed to me and waved me to come over to him. I walked over and said, “what’s up, dude?”
“Are you Victor Phan?” he replied.
“Yeah. That’s me.” I replied nervously as I tried to remember if I owed anyone large sums of money.
“Dude, don’t you write horror movies and fight or something?” he replied as we shook hands.
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“I heard of you from the internet. You’re like famous, dude. What’s up for you next?”
I spoke to him for a few minutes and eventually returned to my group of friends. I
told them what happened and they asked why I wasn’t used to it yet. I’ve always been a small town guy so I’m still slowly growing accustomed to strangers recognizing my name and face. Heck, I’m still getting used to my agent saying that he’s a fan of Victor Phan!
Working in entertainment is all about name recognition. The more people who recognize your name the better off you are. You need industry professionals to recognize your name since they’re the ones hiring and working with you. You need fans to recognize your name since they’re the ones buying your product. You need fans to want to buy your product in order for professionals to want to hire you.
Think of your name as a company selling stock on Wall Street. When your name is hot, you don’t have to look for work, work will somehow find you. In fact you will be offered work you may have to pass on. But when your name is cold, you have to call everyone you know in the industry practically begging for work.
So I have done everything I could think of to get my name out there as much as possible. I’ve taught college classes, done guest lectures, gone to networking events, acted in TV shows and commercials, and took pictures with fans.
Which brings me to another reason why it is important to get your name out there: fan loyalty. Your most hardcore fans will take care of you when you’re down and out. I remember going to a comic book convention and seeing David Faustino (Bud Bundy from Married With 
Children) signing autographs. He hasn’t done anything as memorable as Married With Children since the show went off the air, but there he was still signing autographs to long lines of fans.
Fans will support names they believe in. Think of all of the rock bands you listen to who are way past their prime, yet you still find yourself buying their new albums. So it’s important to put as much stock behind your name as you can.
Torture Chamber Production
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