A Kyiv Studio Puts Its Wager on the Vertical Drama
The company called Holywater did not begin life as a television outfit. The business was established in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 by Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, and its range of products even now reads more reelshorts app like a mobile entertainment laboratory than a streaming network. My Drama shares the portfolio with My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. That range is important, since it reveals a business that treats video as one consumer product among several rather than its entire identity. In the end, it placed its wager on the vertical drama, a format that began in China as duanju and is framed 9:16 for an upright phone. The category’s leading names were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups, so entering this market was a daring move for a small Ukrainian company.
Spring 2024 and the Debut of the My Drama App
During spring 2024, the My Drama app went live, although the exact date depends on which source you trust. Per TechCrunch, the launch took place in April, whereas Google Play lists March 13, 2024, and the App Store lists May 9, 2024. Those store dates suggest that Android launched first, with the iPhone version landing about two months later. The genre’s most popular tropes dominated the initial slate. Most of what you need to know about the mood is clear in initial titles such as The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss. What eventually set the company apart was not the stories themselves but the partner it would soon be producing them with.
The Fox Deal, a $22M Round and a Webby
My Drama stopped being just a startup curiosity in October 2025. Fox Entertainment acquired an equity stake in Holywater, in a deal that included a commitment to produce more than 200 vertical titles over two years. The platform carries Fox-produced titles including Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. Three months later, in January 2026, Holywater secured $22M in a funding round led by Horizon Capital. The company additionally has a 2025 Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, an honor it features on its App Store listing. These milestones, taken together, hand My Drama a distinctive asset that few rivals can claim: a major American studio serving as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama at a Glance
If you only have a moment, the table below offers the short version of the story. First-time viewers will find the ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that matter most to them gathered here. The prices are those shown in the US App Store as of September 2026. As they vary by country, platform and promotion, read them as a rough guide rather than a quote. If you ever need to challenge a charge, it matters that the legal entity you contract with depends on where you live. The install count is taken from Google Play, where the app shows 5M+ downloads.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Owner | Holywater (founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020) |
| Founded by | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Companion apps | My Passion (books), My Muse (AI), FreeBits |
| Legal entity for US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Contract party, other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch | Spring 2024 (Google Play on March 13; App Store on May 9) |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro and web |
| Installs on Android | 5M+ via Google Play |
| Full-access plan | Around $19.99 a week, auto-renewing |
| Coin bundles | About $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium plans | About $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Studio partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Latest funding | $22M raised in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Honors | Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
What Watching on My Drama Feels Like
The basic experience is the one the whole category is built on. In this genre, episodes usually last a minute or two before a cliffhanger nudges 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 quietly consume an evening in small bites. The range of screens it supports is where this drama app truly sets itself apart. In addition to iPhone, iPad and Android, it is listed for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro. That big-screen option is rarer than you might think, since ReelShort’s App Store listing, for comparison, shows no Apple TV version at all. A 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV, but the option converts a solo phone habit into something a couple can enjoy together.
As for content, the library blends Holywater’s own early productions with the growing Fox slate. As titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make clear, the Fox releases stick close to the genre’s familiar formula. Here, the candid caveat is scale. With 5M+ installs on Google Play, the app has a small fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each list. That gap tells you where My Drama stands in 2026: 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. “My Drama: Full Access” runs around $19.99 a week in the US App Store as of September 2026. The weekly passes from ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort are listed at about the same price in the same store, which places My Drama level with them. Coin bundles, which unlock individual episodes, run from roughly $4.99 to $24.99. A separate Premium tier is listed at around $4.99 to $9.99, so lighter viewers have cheaper entry points than the full pass. Like its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription renews automatically until you cancel it. As prices vary by country, platform and promotion, the figure on your own device may be different. Before committing, run the numbers: four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass come to around $80 a month.
Terms to Check Before You Pay
Most viewers pay less attention than they should to the fine print in My Drama’s terms of use. Since coin purchases are final, there is no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it. On top of that, coins are forfeited after 12 months of inactivity, so a balance you ignore for a year can simply disappear. Purchases on the web are labeled non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. A 14-day right of withdrawal applies to viewers in the EU and UK, reflecting the consumer rules in those markets. The most important point of all: the terms say clearly that deleting the app does not cancel your subscription. iPhone owners cancel under Settings, then their name, then Subscriptions, while Android users go through the Subscriptions menu in Google Play. Refunds for store purchases are handled by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
It is also useful to know exactly who sits on the other side of the contract. US users deal with XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. One more warning applies here as much as to any vertical drama app. A site promising modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators is unofficial, and it is not a safe way to watch anything. If the price feels steep, the right step is cancelling the pass; do not go hunting for a hack.
The Verdict: A Challenger Backed by Hollywood
My Drama is not the largest vertical drama app, and judging by install counts it is not close. What it offers instead is an unusual combination: a Kyiv founding story, a Fox equity partner committed to more than 200 titles, fresh funding from January 2026 and a Webby on the shelf. For viewers, the practical upside is Apple TV support, which ReelShort, for one, does not list. A weekly pass of about $19.99 that renews quietly in the background is the drawback, the same one that dogs every rival. If you simply want the largest claimed library, ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious pick. Viewers who want Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a TV will find that the My Drama app deserves a place on the home screen. Either way, do not trust the delete button: set a reminder the day you subscribe and cancel through your store account.
