* Samantha Morris has been promoted to producer at Vancouver-based Brightlight Pictures and will oversee the production of Pink Ludoos in May on Vancouver Island and then work in reality and lifestyle television. Previously, she was assistant producer to Shawn Williamson.

* Distribution Access, the Edmonton-based distribution arm of Access Media Group, has promoted veteran educational sales executive Bill McGowan to senior acquisitions and sales executive.

* The Toronto-based North American Broadcasters Association has elected Peter Smith, VP of advanced technology for NBC, as its president for the next two years. At NABA’s annual meeting in Los Angeles, members also elected Andy Setos, president of engineering at Fox Entertainment Group, and Leonardo Mateos Ramos, Grupo Televisa’s director of high-technology projects, as VPs for two-year terms.

* At its AGM on March 6, the Directors Guild of Canada – Ontario re-elected Don McCutcheon to a two-year term as chairman, while exec director and CEO Marcus Handman announced his departure. Handman, a founding member of FilmOntario, will move to Victoria at the end of summer for family reasons.

* Producer/engineer Jeff White has joined recording and post-production studio McClear Digital in Toronto. White won the Bob Mann Post-Production Award in 1998, while working for Soundfield Studios.

* Clint Nickerson, director of news and information programming at The New VI in Victoria, is leaving the station April 30 with no announced follow-up plans. The Victoria native was one of the founding news producers at the CHUM property. Nickerson has been with CHUM Television for 20 years. No one was named to replace him at press time.

Also at The New VI, Richard Gray has been named station manager and will lead the management team and staff in all day-to-day operations starting April 19. He is moving from CHUM’s The New RO in Ottawa/Pembroke, where he is director of information programming and manager of human resources. Early in his career, Gray was an on-air news host and reporter.