* Motion International has named Didier Pietri president of the company’s new u.s. division. Didier will open the new Motion office in Los Angeles Nov. 15. He is responsible for all u.s. activity including development and business relations, financing and production.

Pietri (Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy, Indiscretions of an American Wife) joined ABC Television in 1992, and launched ABC Pictures as its president in ’95.

* CineGroupe has named Marie-Claude Beauchamp to the post of vp of development and executive producer. Beauchamp was a producer on several international coproduction series with Prisma Productions and has worked in the Canadian program export sector with The Multimedia Group of Canada and Mediamax International.

* Jeff Grottick has been named vp of home video and acquisitions at Behaviour Distribution/Industry Entertainment. Grottick moves over from Sullivan Entertainment where he held the same title.

* Jay Switzer has been promoted to senior vp of programming, CHUM Television. Switzer oversees programming for all of the company’s specialty channels and local tv stations.

Also at chum, Mark Rubenstein has been promoted to senior vp and gm at ChumCity, which encompasses all tv and related services generated from the ChumCity building.

* Cinar Corp. has announced the appointment of Louise Sansregret to the newly created post of vp corporate affairs. Suzan Ayscough takes over from Sansregret as the company’s new vp communications.

Sansregret will handle investor relations and special corporate and community projects. Ayscough is responsible for product and corporate communications. The move represents a return to Cinar for Ayscough, who earlier worked with the company as its director of commmunications. She was director, communications and public affairs with Telefilm Canada.

* The French Program of the National Film Board has named Marcel Jean producer of its animation/youth studio. In the past year, Jean has worked as a producer associated with the commercialization of the NFB Collection, notably the Pierre Perrault videography of the Collection Memoire series. He replaces nfb veteran Pierre Hebert.

* French-language lifestyle specialty channel Canal Vie has named Line Richard to the post of delegate/supervising producer. Richard has worked in public affairs television at Radio-Canada, Motion International and most recently with Tele-Quebec.

Canal Vie’s Jean Garneau moves over to become delegate producer with Canal z, the new Radiomutuel science, technology and new media specialty channel. Canal z launches Jan. 10, 2000.

* Daegan Frylind has been named head of development and Jennifer Moore has been appointed as head of production at Vancouver’s Cadence Entertainment.

* Mark DesRochers has been named interim head of the B.C. Film Commission while the provincial Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture looks for a replacement for Peter Mitchell, who has left to work as the vp marketing at Vancouver Film Studios. As a longtime employee of the commission, DesRochers has been in charge of location services.

* Stephanie Lord has joined Montreal visual-effects producer Voodoo Arts as vp and executive director. Lord will be responsible for business development in Montreal while Barry Bittle, vp corporate development, will concentrate on external markets including Toronto and New York. Lord is a former ad agency executive and producer with Jet Films.

Martial Vincent was recently named company president.

* Andrea Grau has been promoted to manager of publicity at Odeon Films. Grau has been with Odeon since 1996, most recently as publicity coordinator.

* Neil Dainard is resigning from his post as executive director of actraworks, actra’s professional development program, to return to acting full time. Dainard played an integral in the launch of actraworks four years ago. His replacement has not been named

* The Banff Television Festival has appointed six new directors: Jay Switzer, senior vp of programming, CHUM Television; Bill Mustos, vp, dramatic programming, ctv; Richard Paradis, president, Canadian Association of Film Distributors & Exporters; Andre Provencher, president, TVA International; Harold Redekopp, vp, cbc/Radio Canada, Toronto; and Christine Shipton, senior vp, creative affairs, television, Alliance Atlantis Communications.