Surface Media announced the hiring of two incredible leaders: Martine Bury as vice president of content and Steve Kushnir as vice president of events. On the heels of a recent round of funding at the end of 2018, Surface Media continues to be at the forefront of high-end art, design, fashion, and architecture and continues to pave the way into digital and multimedia content. For more than 26 years, Surface Media has been creating a brand built for longevity that has allowed it to evolve from a magazine publisher to an influential media company able to withstand today’s ever-changing media landscape and grow as an industry leader.
As the brand’s first-ever vice president of content, Bury will be responsible for enhancing the company’s vision on multiple storytelling platforms. She will focus on planning, developing, and implementing the company’s overall content strategy across multiple channels including text, video, audio, animation, and live experiences, among others. A veteran lifestyle journalist with more than 25 years of experience, Bury most recently worked as a content strategist, advisor, and producer, consulting for leading agencies such as Pace Communications and Destination Creative Group for brands such as AAA, Ritz Carlton, and Visit Santa Barbara.
She also spent more than five years as editor in chief of Quest, Ker & Downey’s luxury travel magazine, and also served as editor-in-chief and editorial director of 944 magazine, a 300,000 print circulation publication with 10 regional editions and a more than 40 person editorial team with an in-room hotel distribution strategy of more than 100,000. She also helmed 944’s custom publishing division, which launched Cirque, the official Cirque du Soleil magazine, distributed at all the Cirque shows in Las Vegas, and GAME, the official magazine of the NFL 2008 Super Bowl host committee. 944 was founded by Surface Media’s CEO, Marc Lotenberg, in 2001. Bury’s career spans numerous titles at publishing houses such as American Express Publishing, Hearst, and Fairchild Publications.
Kushnir is now leading Surface Media’s events and experiential strategy with a key directive to concentrate the businesses efforts toward building marquee branded experiences that bring the Surface Media content and community together. Prior to joining Surface, Kushnir served as head of business development at Ticketfly, a subsidiary of Pandora, which is a technology platform reimagining the live event experience for global event producers and their fans. He has also served as VP of business development at CrowdTorch, a subsidiary of Cvent, and as partner and marketing director at 944 magazine. Kushnir brings more than 25 years of live event experience and strategy to the Surface team and will be focusing on reimagining pre-existing content models to deliver immersive content experiences.
“With today’s dynamic media landscape, we’re excited about the challenge of evolving the traditional business model for publishing while preserving the integrity and craft of what makes publishing special and valued. Our vision is one with many faces and voices, bringing together a diverse conversation of various points of view while maintaining the necessary consistency to build an important brand. Producing quality content—whether print, digital, TV, experiential, or other new platforms—is what we are obsessed with and believe firmly that quality will always sustain and rise even if the overall market faces challenges. Print, like retail, is not dead, it’s just evolving. The innovative content producers will thrive, while those who don’t deliver a quality product or experience will struggle,” said Lotenberg. “We’re excited to bring on industry veterans like Martine and Steve and we’re confident they are going to help propel our brand forward as we continue to finetune our existing products and announce new ones in the coming weeks and months ahead.”
“I’ve always admired Surface’s commitment to storytelling in a way that floats above trend, keeping the conversation about design, architecture, fashion, art, technology, and culture fresh and thoughtful, while providing a forum for the most fascinating influential creators and thought leaders of our time,” said Bury. “I’m excited to have a hand in further shaping this already dynamic team and keeping our voice strong, authentic, and distinct.”
Kushnir says the Surface Media brand is stronger than ever. “I am honored and excited to be a part of such a talented team. While other publishers and media brands are struggling, Surface continues to adapt and innovate. The Surface brand has a proven history of excellence in editorial coverage and they have managed to cultivate some amazing relationships and partnerships along the way. Surface is positioned in such a unique way as the media landscape continues to evolve. Through my lens I view publishers the same way as I view the global event and festival producers. The only difference is the vehicle through which they traditionally tell their stories. Surface can deliver content in so many different ways now. Live events, videos, podcasts, smart devices, and thought leadership panels are some of the new ways we can engage with our audience. This is the future of publishing and there is no one better positioned to shape that offering than the Surface team.”
