A Kyiv Studio Stakes Its Bet on the Vertical Drama
In the beginning, Holywater was not a television company. It was in 2020 that Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov founded the studio in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its portfolio still reads more like a mobile entertainment lab than a streaming network. My Drama sits in a portfolio with My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. That spread matters, since video reelshorts.org/genre/fantasy is one of several consumer products for Holywater, not its whole identity. In the end, the company bet on the vertical drama, a format that originated in China as duanju and is framed 9:16 for an upright phone. For a small Ukrainian firm, this was a brave market to enter, since the category’s largest players were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups.
Spring 2024 and the Arrival of the My Drama App
The My Drama app appeared in spring 2024, although the exact date hinges on which record you trust. Google Play shows March 13, 2024, the App Store lists May 9, 2024, and TechCrunch put the launch in April. The difference between those store dates indicates that Android came first and the iPhone version followed about two months later. The opening slate was built around the genre’s best-loved tropes. Early titles featured The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss, names that show most of what you need to know about the mood. What eventually set the company apart was not the stories themselves but the partner it would soon be producing them with.
Fox, $22M in Funding and a Webby Award
In October 2025, My Drama stopped being a mere startup curiosity. Fox Entertainment took an equity stake in Holywater, and the agreement came with a commitment to produce more than 200 vertical titles over two years. Fox-produced titles on the app include Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. Three months later, in January 2026, Holywater raised $22M in a funding round led by Horizon Capital. On its App Store listing, the company displays a further credential: a Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025. Few rivals can claim what those milestones hand My Drama, namely a big American studio serving as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama: Key Facts
The condensed version of the story sits in the table below, for readers who only have a minute. The ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that count most to a first-time viewer are gathered in one place. All prices come from the US App Store as of September 2026. Country, platform and promotion all change them, so read them as a guide rather than a firm quote. The install number refers to Google Play, where the app displays 5M+ downloads. Where you live determines the legal entity you deal with, something that is relevant if you ever need to challenge a charge.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Holywater (established in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020) |
| Co-founders | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Related apps | My Passion for books, My Muse for AI, plus FreeBits |
| Contracting entity, US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Legal entity for other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch | Spring 2024 (Google Play: March 13; App Store: May 9) |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro and web |
| Android downloads | 5M+ on Google Play |
| Full access pass | Roughly $19.99 a week, renewing automatically |
| Coin bundles | About $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium plans | About $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Studio partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake held since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Investment | $22M in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Honors | Webby Award, Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
What Watching on My Drama Feels Like
The entire category is built on this same basic experience, and My Drama sticks to it. In this genre, episodes typically run a minute or two before a cliffhanger pushes you toward the next one, and they are vertical, sized for a phone held upright. Series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes, so a single story can silently consume an evening in bite-sized pieces. What truly marks this drama app apart is the range of screens it supports. Beyond iPhone, iPad and Android, the app is listed for Vision Pro and for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later. By comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all, so that big-screen option is less common than you might expect. A 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen television, but the option converts a solo phone habit into something a couple can watch together.
The growing Fox slate runs beside Holywater’s own early productions in the catalog. Titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession show that the Fox releases stick close to the genre’s established formula. Scale is where the honest caveat comes in. The app shows 5M+ installs on Google Play, a fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each list. In 2026, that gap shows that My Drama is a well-financed challenger rather than the category leader.
My Drama Pricing in 2026
Of the three ways Holywater sells access, the weekly pass carries the main figure. As of September 2026, the US App Store prices “My Drama: Full Access” at about $19.99 a week. The weekly passes from ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort are listed at about the same price in the same store, which puts My Drama level with them. Coin bundles, used to unlock individual episodes, range from about $4.99 to $24.99. Lighter viewers have less expensive entry points than the full pass, as a separate Premium tier is listed at about $4.99 to $9.99. Until you cancel it, the weekly subscription keeps renewing, just as its rivals’ plans do. Prices change by country, platform and promotion, so the figure on your own screen may be different. Before committing, run the numbers: four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass come to roughly $80 a month.
Terms Worth Knowing Before You Pay
Most viewers pay less attention than they should to the fine print in My Drama’s terms of use. Coin purchases are final, so there is no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it. After 12 months of inactivity, coins are also forfeited, so a balance left untouched for a year can simply disappear. Anything you buy on the web is described as non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Reflecting the consumer rules in those markets, viewers in the EU and UK have a 14-day right of withdrawal. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription, and the terms state this clearly, and that is the most important point of all. To cancel on an iPhone, go to Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions; on Android, use the Subscriptions menu in Google Play. Refunds for store purchases are dealt with by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
Understanding exactly who sits on the other side of the contract is useful too. XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, handles US users, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. One more warning applies here as much as to any vertical drama app. Sites promising modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators are unofficial, and they are not a safe way to watch anything. If the price feels steep, cancel the pass; do not go hunting for a hack.
Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
By install counts, My Drama is not close to being the largest vertical drama app. Rather, it offers an unlikely combination: a Kyiv founding story, a Fox equity partner signed up for more than 200 titles, fresh funding from January 2026 and a Webby on the shelf. For viewers there is a practical upside in Apple TV support, which ReelShort, for one, does not list. The catch remains the same one that dogs every rival: a weekly pass of roughly $19.99 that quietly renews in the background. If you simply want the largest claimed library, ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious choice. Viewers who want Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a television should know that the My Drama app deserves a place on their home screen. Whichever you choose, create a reminder on the day you subscribe and cancel through your store account instead of trusting the delete button.
