EXECUTIVE BIOS

Jason Binn started his publishing career as co-founder of Ocean Drive magazine in 1993. He then founded Niche Media Holdings in 1998, building what BusinessWeek calls “a fast growing empire” of upscale glossies that has cornered the regional publishing market with the country’s preeminent local luxury magazines.

In 2006 Niche Media joined the Greenspun Media Group (GMG) to become one of the largest networks of exclusive city-specific and custom publishing companies in the country. In 2007 GMG purchased The Ocean Drive Media Group and merged the operations under Niche Media. Currently Binn serves as CEO and Founder of Niche Media, the umbrella for titles including Art Basel Miami Beach, Aspen Peak, Boston Common, Capitol File, Gotham, Hamptons, Los Angeles Confidential, Michigan Avenue, Ocean Drive, Philadelphia Style, Vegas, and Wynn.

Through the development of a vertically integrated strategic model, Binn has successfully validated the concept of the controlled-circulation publication as a prized commodity in the eyes of consumers and advertisers. His “winning formula” (BusinessWeek) begins with magazines that chronicle and celebrate community leaders and local celebrities. Then, unlike most magazines that rely solely on newsstand sales and subscriptions for their circulation base, Niche Media works with some of the most highly respected data bureaus in the country to ensure that its magazines are delivered straight into the hands of the country’s most sought-after readers--those with the highest disposable income.

Rounding out Binn’s strategic model are over 500 events per year thrown by Niche Media that are chronicled in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Boston Herald, The Hollywood Reporter, Advertising Age, Folio, Mediaweek, Variety, People, OK!, Star, New York Post and U.S. News & World Report, among others, bringing the magazines to life and ultimately creating an intimate connection between the readers, the magazines, and the communities they serve.

In 2007 Binn was selected from over 1,000 nominations to be featured in Crain’s coveted “40 Under 40” list of successful entrepreneurs. In 2006 Binn was the only person within the magazine industry to be inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s “Advertising Hall of Achievement,” an honor bestowed upon outstanding advertising professionals age 40 and under who make a significant impact through leadership, career, and personal achievements.

Binn was also profiled in Forbes magazine’s coveted “Forbes 400” issue in a piece highlighting his ability to capture an audience of the “rich and powerful,” a skill also recognized by Newsweek (May 2005). That same year Binn was awarded Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award celebrating vision, leadership, and the success of the entrepreneurial spirit for his work in the publishing industry.

Jason Binn graduated from Boston University’s College of Communications in 1989. In 2008 he was one of five honorees chosen among 25,000 College of Communication alumni to receive the college’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to Profession for his leadership and cutting edge work in the field of communication presented by Dean Tom Fielder.

He, his wife Haley Lieberman Binn and daughters Penny and Celia, divide their time between their Aspen, Los Angeles, New York and Southampton homes.

Katherine Nicholls, Chief Operating Officer of Niche Media, joined the magazine family in 2007 with over 20 years of experience in the sales and marketing arena for various global luxury brands. Nicholls is responsible for leading the sales and marketing teams for all Niche Media titles.

Prior to joining The Niche Media team, Katherine served as Vice President of Marketing for the Charmer Sunbelt Group, US distributors of fine wines, spirits, champagnes and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic products, where she elevated their marketing culture to a new, strategic level. Before that Nicholls held senior marketing and leadership positions with Diageo PLC and Schieffelin & Somerset (LVMH Möet Hennessy). She began her career in the wines and spirits industry in Canada and quickly progressed to general marketing and management positions. Her career has been focused on marketing luxury brands.

Katherine is a graduate of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and now lives in New York.

Courtland Lantaff, a Miami, FL native and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came on board at the Ocean Drive Media Group, now Niche Media Holdings, LLC, as Credit Manager in 1999. Lantaff quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Vice President of Business Affairs in 2004. In 2005, Lantaff was appointed co-publisher of Ocean Drive magazine overseeing all magazine operations, sales and production departments.

Lantaff has overseen the launches of luxury regional and custom publications including Ocean Drive and Ocean Drive Espanol, Ocean Drive Venezuela, Art Basel Miami Beach, Bal Harbour, Atlanta Peach and Trump.

Courtland Lantaff is the Publisher for Ocean Drive Magazine overseeing all Southeastern operations and sales.

John P. Kushnir, CPA, joined Niche Media as Chief Financial Officer in October 2007. With a core competency in traditional and digital publishing, Kushnir has over twenty years of experience in business management, finance and accounting.

Kushnir came to Niche Media from the Vendome Group, a business-to-business publishing company based in New York City where he served as CFO. Prior to that he held several positions at Primedia starting as Controller for the Business Media Division’s Internet foray, Industryclick. Within one year, he was promoted to CFO of Primedia’s Consumer Media and Magazine Internet Division, where he was instrumental in driving the group to become the highest growth vehicle in the Company. He then took on additional responsibility as CFO of the Licensing Group and ultimately ended up as CFO of the Company’s Consumer Automotive Group, a group anchored by Motortrend and Automobile Magazine. Before that, Kushnir served as Controller for start-up companies in the entertainment and technology sectors over a seven year period. He started his career with the international accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche where he specialized in audits of publishing clients.

John graduated from Rutgers University with an MBA. Today he lives in Colts Neck, New Jersey with his wife Rosemarie and their two daughters Courtney Nicole and Jenna Rose.

Cristina Greeven Cuomo is the Editor in Chief of GOTHAM and HAMPTONS as well as a contributor to all the other Niche Media titles like LA Confidential, Aspen Peak, Philadelphia Style, Boston Common, and Michigan Avenue. Cuomo joined forces with Jason Binn in 2001 as the Vice-Chairman of Niche Media. In that position Cuomo worked closely with marketing, event promotions, advertising, and editorial ensuring proper branding for the Niche Media model in each respective market. Prior to her arrival, she founded and ran the lifestyle magazine, Manhattan File, as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief for seven years, as well as its offshoots, Hamptons File and Vegas File. She was also editor of Hamptons for three years prior to founding Manhattan File. She is a graduate of Cornell University and is married to ABC's “Good Morning America” News Anchor, Christopher Cuomo, son of New York's three-term Governor, Mario Cuomo. The Cuomos live on the Upper West Side of New York with their two children, Bella and Mario. She is an avid supporter of Turnaround for Children, the New York Public Library, The New York Botanical Gardens, HELP and Mentoring USA, among other charities.