How a Kyiv Studio Bet on the Vertical Drama
At first, Holywater was not a television company. Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov founded the company in 2020 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its portfolio even now reads more like a mobile entertainment lab than a streaming network. My Drama is listed alongside My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. It is telling that the lineup is this broad, because it reveals a company that treats video as one consumer product among several instead of its whole identity. The vertical drama, a format born in https://www.reelshorts.org/where-to-watch/country-heartthrob/ China as duanju and framed 9:16 for an upright phone, became its eventual wager. Moving into this market was a bold step for a small Ukrainian business, because the genre’s leading names were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups.
Spring 2024 and the Debut of the My Drama App
In spring 2024, the My Drama app arrived, though the precise date varies with which source you believe. TechCrunch dated the launch in April, Google Play gives March 13, 2024, and the App Store lists May 9, 2024. Android appears to have come first, since the gap between those store dates indicates, with the iPhone version following about two months later. The first slate leaned hard on the genre’s go-to tropes. Most of what you need to know about the mood comes through in early titles such as The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss. The partner it would soon be producing them with, not the stories themselves, is what eventually made it stand out.
The Fox Deal, a $22M Round and a Webby
October 2025 was the month My Drama ceased to be a startup curiosity. Fox Entertainment acquired an equity stake in Holywater, and the deal came with a commitment to make more than 200 vertical titles over two years. Fox-produced titles on the platform include Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. Horizon Capital led a $22M round for Holywater three months later, in January 2026. A Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025 also belongs to the company, which features it on its App Store listing. Combined, those milestones give My Drama something few rivals can claim, namely a major American studio acting as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama at a Glance
The quick version of the story sits in the table below, for readers who only have a minute. It brings together the ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that count most to a new viewer. As of September 2026, the prices are the ones shown in the US App Store. As they vary by country, platform and promotion, read them as a guide rather than a quote. If you ever need to challenge a charge, it helps to know that the legal entity you contract with depends on where you live. On Google Play, where the install figure comes from, the app shows 5M+ downloads.
| Item | Specifics |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Holywater, set up in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 |
| Founders | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Companion apps | My Passion (books), My Muse (AI), FreeBits |
| Contract party, US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Contract party, other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch date | Spring 2024 (Google Play: March 13; App Store: May 9) |
| Supported platforms | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro, Android, web |
| Installs on Android | 5M+ via Google Play |
| Full access pass | Around $19.99 per week, auto-renewing |
| Coin bundles | Around $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium tier | Roughly $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Production partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Funding | $22M in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Honors | Webby Award, Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
The My Drama Viewing Experience
The basic experience mirrors the one the whole category is built on. Episodes are vertical and sized for an upright phone; in this genre episodes generally run a minute or two, and then a cliffhanger pushes you toward the next one. Series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes, so a single story can silently consume an evening in short bites. The range of screens it supports is where this drama app really distinguishes itself. It is listed for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro, in addition to iPhone, iPad and Android. ReelShort’s App Store listing, by comparison, shows no Apple TV version at all, which underlines that this big-screen option is rarer than you might expect. Although a 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV, the option turns a solo phone habit into something a couple can watch together.
Holywater’s own early productions and the growing Fox slate share the catalog, which blends the two. 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 fair caveat comes in. On Google Play the app shows 5M+ installs, a fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each list. That gap places My Drama in 2026 as a well-funded challenger rather than the category leader.
What My Drama Costs in 2026: Plans and Prices
Holywater sells access in three ways, and the main figure is the weekly pass. As of September 2026, the US App Store prices “My Drama: Full Access” at roughly $19.99 per week. That puts it in line with the weekly passes from ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort, which are listed at about the same price in the same store. Coin bundles, which are used to unlock individual episodes, run from around $4.99 to $24.99. The store also lists a separate Premium tier at roughly $4.99 to $9.99, giving lighter viewers cheaper entry points than the full pass. As prices change by country, platform and promotion, the figure on your own device may be different. Until you cancel it, the weekly subscription renews automatically, as its rivals’ plans do. Run the numbers first: with four renewals, a $19.99 weekly pass comes to around $80 a month.
Before You Pay: Terms Worth Knowing
My Drama’s terms of use contain fine print that deserves more attention than most viewers pay it. All coin purchase is final, which means no easy refund if a series disappoints after you unlock it. A balance you ignore for a year can simply vanish, because coins are forfeited after 12 months of inactivity. A 14-day right of withdrawal applies to viewers in the EU and UK, in line with the consumer rules in those markets. Web purchases are labeled non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription, and the terms state so clearly, which is the most important point of all. Android users go through the Subscriptions menu in Google Play, while on an iPhone you cancel under Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions. Apple or Google, not Holywater, handle refunds for store purchases.
It also pays to know exactly who stands on the other side of the contract. Everyone outside the US contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus, while US users deal with XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company. Another 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. The proper move to a steep price is to cancel the pass, not to hunt for a hack.
Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
My Drama is not the biggest vertical drama app, and going by install counts it is not even close. Instead, it offers an unlikely 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. The practical upside for viewers is Apple TV support, a feature ReelShort, for one, does not list. The drawback is the same one that dogs every rival, namely a weekly pass of around $19.99 that renews quietly in the background. If you want Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a television, the My Drama app earns a place on your home screen. ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious pick if you simply want the largest claimed library. Whatever you decide, never rely on the delete button: set a reminder the day you subscribe and cancel through your store account.
