A Kyiv Studio Gambles on the Vertical Drama
Television was not how Holywater started out. Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov established the company in 2020 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its range of products still looks more like a lab for mobile entertainment than a streaming network. My Drama sits next to My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. It matters that the portfolio is this broad, because it reveals a business that sees video as one consumer product among several instead of its entire identity. The vertical drama, a format that began in China as duanju and is framed 9:16 for an upright phone, was where www.shortreels.org/series/fated-to-the-alpha it eventually placed its wager. For a small Ukrainian company, this was a bold market to enter, because the genre’s biggest names were backed by Chinese and Singaporean groups.
The My Drama App Arrives in Spring 2024
During spring 2024, the My Drama app launched, although the precise date depends on which source you trust. TechCrunch placed the launch in April, Google Play gives March 13, 2024, and the App Store gives May 9, 2024. The gap between those store dates hints that Android came first and the iPhone version followed about two months later. At launch, the slate relied heavily on the genre’s favorite tropes. Initial titles like The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss reveal most of what you need to know about the tone through their names alone. It was not the stories themselves that ultimately made the studio stand out, but the partner it would soon be producing them with.
The Fox Deal, a $22M Round and a Webby
My Drama stopped being a startup curiosity in October 2025. Under a deal that came with a commitment to produce more than 200 vertical titles over two years, Fox Entertainment took an equity stake in Holywater. A $22M funding round led by Horizon Capital followed three months later, in January 2026, with Holywater raising the sum. Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside are among the Fox-produced titles on the app. In its App Store listing, the company displays a further credential: a Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025. These milestones, taken together, give My Drama a distinctive advantage that few rivals can claim: a major American studio acting as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama at a Glance
The table below offers the quick version of the story if you only have a moment. 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. Because they change by country, platform and promotion, treat them as a rough guide rather than a firm quote. If you ever need to contest a charge, it matters that the legal entity you contract with depends on where you live. The install figure refers to Google Play, where the app displays 5M+ downloads.
| Category | Specifics |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Holywater, established in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 |
| Co-founders | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Sister apps | My Passion (books), My Muse (AI), FreeBits |
| Legal entity for US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Contracting entity, other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch | Spring 2024 (Google Play: March 13; App Store: May 9) |
| Platforms | 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, auto-renewing |
| Coin bundles | About $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium tier | Around $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Studio backer | Fox Entertainment, equity stake held since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Latest funding | $22M raised in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Recognition | Webby Award, Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
What It Feels Like to Watch My Drama
The basic experience mirrors the one the entire category is founded on. Formatted for an upright phone, episodes are vertical, and in this genre they typically last one or two minutes before a cliffhanger pushes you on to the next. As series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes, a single story can quietly eat up an evening in small bites. The range of screens it supports is where this drama app truly sets itself apart. As well as iPhone, iPad and Android, the app is listed for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro. For comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all, so that big-screen option is rarer than you might think. The option converts a solo phone habit into something a couple can watch together, even though a 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV.
The growing Fox slate sits alongside Holywater’s own early productions in the library. As titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make clear, the Fox releases stay close to the genre’s established formula. The fair caveat here is scale. ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each list 100M+ installs on Google Play, while the app shows 5M+, a fraction of that. In 2026, that gap makes clear that My Drama is a well-backed challenger rather than the category leader.
What My Drama Costs in 2026: Plans and Prices
The key figure is the weekly pass, one of the three ways Holywater sells access. About $19.99 per week is what “My Drama: Full Access” runs in the US App Store as of September 2026. 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. From about $4.99 to $24.99, coin bundles open up individual episodes. A separate Premium tier is listed at around $4.99 to $9.99, so lighter viewers have lower-cost entry points than the full pass. Like its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription renews automatically until you cancel it. Prices vary by country, platform and promotion, so the figure on your own screen may differ. Do the arithmetic before you commit, because four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass add up to about $80 a month.
Terms Worth Knowing Before You Pay
My Drama’s terms of use include fine print that merits more attention than most viewers give it. Every coin purchases are final, which means no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it. A balance you ignore for a year can simply disappear, since coins are forfeited after 12 months of inactivity. In line with the consumer rules in those markets, viewers in the EU and UK receive a 14-day right of withdrawal. Anything you buy on the web is described as non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription, and the terms say this plainly, which is the most important point of all. iPhone owners cancel under Settings, then their name, then Subscriptions, whereas Android users use the Subscriptions menu in Google Play. Refunds for store purchases are processed by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
It also helps to know exactly who sits on the other side of the contract. US users contract with XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. Here, as with any vertical drama app, one more warning is worth making. Sites promising modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators are unofficial, and they are not a safe way to watch anything. Canceling the pass, not looking for a hack, is the legitimate move if the price seems steep.
Our Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
On 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. ReelShort, for one, does not list Apple TV support, which makes it the practical advantage for My Drama viewers. The catch is the same one that plagues every rival, namely a weekly pass of roughly $19.99 that renews quietly in the background. If you want Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a TV, the My Drama app deserves a place on your home screen. For viewers who simply want the largest claimed library, ShortMax and its 50,000+ dramas are the more obvious choice. Either way, set a reminder the day you subscribe, and cancel through your store account rather than trusting the delete button.