Pull Focus by Helen Walsh

“Yet the show must go on”, Jane Browning has been pole-vaulted from artistic director of the Worldwide Toronto Film Festival (WTFF) to acting CEO after her boss Paul DelGrotto has been removed for sexual harassment. Pull focus is defined as a filming technique used in film and television whereby the focal point is drawn towards the viewer. Walsh’s use of description will pull the readers into the story which is told over ten days.

Jane’s partner Bob goes missing and needs to find out if he’s in danger. Jane is also dealing with the politics of running WTFF, the Hollywood power brokers, Russian oil billionaires, Chinese propagandists, and members of the festival board.

“Walsh should get this story onto a script so more people can experience this thrill ride.”

Pull Focus is a sexually driven thriller and gets steamer with every turn of the page. Starting off on day one with a dick pic featured on the gossip TV show TMZ. Hashtags and rants trending on Twitter, apologetic emails, and an overcrowded party filled with A-list celebrities, media scum and the police. All wanting to know more!

With this unique Torontonian storyline, you really need to pay attention to all the characters as I found myself reading over some pages for the second time. This book reads like watching a movie, in which you don’t want to miss any character or storyline as the days unfold.

If you’re a fan of Film Festivals this book is definitely a must-read. Walsh’s description of behind the screens and the inner workings of a film festival is very interesting and in-depth. You can tell Walsh has a background working within the film industry. Being a movie buff myself I think Walsh should get this story onto a script so more people can experience this thrill ride.

“Part Real Housewives, part grown-up Nancy Drew, Pull Focus gleefully skewers all players in the international film scene while deftly unspooling a good old-fashioned thriller. Walsh creates a world of glamourous parties, dirty money, and weaponized sex.”
― Missy Marston, author of Bad Ideas

Helen Walsh is the founder and president of Diaspora Dialogues, Canada’s premier literary mentoring organization. Formerly the publisher of the Literary Review of Canada and a founding director of Spur, a national festival of politics, arts, and ideas, Walsh spent five years working as a film/digital media producer in L.A. and New York. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ ECW Press (Sept. 7 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1770415793
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1770415799

Shawna Butler

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Shawna is a mother and a retired athlete, coach and fitness professional. She currently works in the Beauty Industry with Drunk Elephant. In her spare time, she enjoy watching baseball, reading anything pertaining to sports, fashion, poetry and biographies. She likes to travel to anywhere warm and sunny. Shawna has a BBA from Mount Saint Vincent University and currently lives in Paradise, Newfoundland. New Instagram account @shawna.j.butler

Shawna Butler

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