Christian Bale, a British child star who rose to fame young, wasn't much different from child stars around the world.
After starring in Empire of the Sun at 14, it was like someone hit the pause button on his life. He vanished from the public eye, and even Steven Spielberg, who once doted on him, seemed to disappear from his world.
If it weren't for Batman, Christian Bale felt he might have faded into obscurity.
Having tasted both the spotlight and mediocrity, the last thing he wanted was to slip back into being ordinary! So Christian Bale was always extra cautious in everything he did.
He never gave interviews to the media, and Claire couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this big shot, supposedly timid, being praised by the press as "humble and grounded." For a moment, it even won over a bunch of media outlets!
"When I was young, I was naive and did things that hurt others without meaning to. I'm really sorry about that. I heard you're close with Director Spielberg, so maybe you could put in a good word for me sometime," Bale said.
Claire's mind started to wander at that. He'd heard the rumor about him being tight with Spielberg from more than one person, but the truth was, he'd never even met the guy!
Claire knew better than to say that out loud. Instead, he flashed Christian Bale a grin. "Thanks so much for helping out this time. I hope we can work together more in the future!"
"Haha, I'm always happy to make new friends. Your song and Batman 2 are a match made in heaven!" Bale replied.
Their mutual flattery didn't take up too much of Claire's time. Thanks to USA Today's full-on support, the "Claire Tickets" campaign for likes and donations skyrocketed to over 400,000 participants in just one night. Even the viral marketing video on YouTube smashed past 10 million views.
Considering Claire barely spent a dime on this marketing event and still reached such a massive audience, it left people in awe! Especially when Batman star Christian Bale personally launched the "Make Little Simon's Dream Come True" event on USA Today's website, over 300,000 people signed up to join!
That's how wildly successful this event was. Those 300,000 people were volunteering to be extras for Little Simon, rivaling the crowds at Los Angeles' Halloween events! Just six hours before the music festival kicked off, the number of people signing up to be on-site extras kept climbing~
The downside? Virgin Atlantic's flights from the U.S. to the UK were fully booked, and roads to Newcastle's Andlem were jammed with traffic and accidents. In Andlem, a city of less than 70,000, every service industry hit its peak moment! Hotels, restaurants, and motels were bursting at the seams. Everywhere you looked, there were crowds, but the Lyme Valley Music Festival billboards all over Andlem finally served their purpose~
Claire Lee's first hands-on music festival was about to begin, and the news spread like wildfire!—
Costa Mayor was having a mix of joy and headaches these past few hours~The sudden flood of tourists and festival attendees at Lyme Valley Stadium far exceeded his expectations~Not only did he have to file reports with various government levels, but he also had to negotiate branding and sponsorship deals with a nonstop stream of companies!
For a music festival to succeed, ticket sales are one part, but the big money comes from brand sponsorships!
Claire Lee, lounging on a sofa with his legs crossed, asked weakly, "Is the boss coming in person?"
"The Grammy Awards are coming up soon. With Taylor and you, the boss is confident you two will sweep the awards," Costa Mayor said, frowning as he scanned the "sponsor list" while explaining to Claire.
Downstairs, the crowd grew louder, the noise rising like a wave!
The big stars up in Claire's hotel were eagerly peering down at the crowd below, but Claire, somehow, had dozed off again~Costa Mayor finally locked in the festival's last sponsor.
France Telecom, the leading telecom company in France~With over 220,000 employees worldwide and nearly 90 million customers, France Telecom had been fiercely competing with Vodafone for the UK market and even clashing with American telecoms. As a major brand, they sponsored everything from TV shows to movies. In