How a Kyiv Studio Bet on the Vertical Drama
Holywater did not start its life as a television outfit. The business was set up in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 by Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, and its lineup to this day looks more like a mobile entertainment laboratory than a streaming platform. My Drama sits alongside My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. The spread is telling: it points to a business for which video is one consumer daily short dramas product among several, not its entire identity. In the end, it made its bet on the vertical drama, a format born in China as duanju and framed 9:16 for an upright phone. Moving into this market was daring for a small Ukrainian company, because the category’s leading names were backed by Chinese and Singaporean groups.
The My Drama App Launches in Spring 2024
The My Drama app arrived in spring 2024, though the exact date depends on which source you trust. According to TechCrunch, the launch took place in April, while Google Play shows March 13, 2024, and the App Store shows May 9, 2024. Going by the difference between those store dates, Android likely came first and the iPhone version followed about two months later. The genre’s favorite tropes dominated the opening slate. The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss were among the early titles, names that reveal most of what you need to know about the mood. The company was ultimately set apart not by the stories themselves but by the partner it would soon be making them with.
A Fox Deal, a $22M Raise and a Webby
October 2025 was the month My Drama ceased to be a startup curiosity. Fox Entertainment took an equity stake in Holywater, and the deal 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 secured $22M in a funding round led by Horizon Capital. The company also holds a Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025, a distinction it displays on its App Store listing. Taken together, those milestones give My Drama something few rivals can match, namely a major American studio acting as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama at a Glance
For readers who only have a minute, the table below is the short version of the story. The ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that matter most to a first-time viewer are gathered there. As of September 2026, the prices are those listed in the US App Store. Since they vary by country, platform and promotion, treat them as a rough guide rather than a quote. On Google Play, the source of the install figure, the app shows 5M+ downloads. The legal entity you sign up with depends on where you live, which becomes relevant if you ever need to contest a charge.
| Item | Specifics |
|---|---|
| Owner | Holywater (founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020) |
| Founders | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Related 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 date | Spring 2024 (Google Play on March 13; App Store on May 9) |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro, Android, web |
| Android installs | 5M+ via Google Play |
| Full-access pass | About $19.99 a week, with automatic renewal |
| Coin packages | Roughly $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium tier | Around $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Studio partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake held since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Investment | $22M raised in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Recognition | Webby Award, Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
What Watching on My Drama Feels Like
The core experience mirrors the one the whole category is founded on. Episodes are vertical and sized for a phone held upright; in this genre episodes generally last one or two minutes, and then a cliffhanger nudges you on to the next one. As series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes, a single story can quietly swallow an evening in bite-sized pieces. The range of screens it supports is where this drama app truly distinguishes itself. Besides iPhone, iPad and Android, it appears for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro. By comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all, so this big-screen option is rarer than you might expect. The option turns a solo phone habit into something a couple can watch together, even though a 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen television.
In terms of content, the library combines Holywater’s own early productions with the growing Fox slate. As titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make plain, the Fox releases stay close to the genre’s familiar formula. Scale is where the honest caveat comes in. The app shows 5M+ installs on Google Play, a small fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each show. That gap reveals where My Drama sits in 2026: a well-financed challenger rather than the category leader.
Pricing: How Much My Drama Costs in 2026
Holywater sells access three ways, and the main figure is the weekly pass. Roughly $19.99 per week is what « My Drama: Full Access » runs 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, used to unlock individual episodes, run from about $4.99 to $24.99. With a separate Premium tier listed at about $4.99 to $9.99, lighter viewers have lower-cost entry points than the full pass. Like its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription renews automatically until you cancel it. Country, platform and promotion all change prices, so the figure on your own screen may differ. Four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass come to roughly $80 a month, so do the math before you commit.
Before You Pay: Terms Worth Knowing
Most viewers give less attention than they should to the fine print in My Drama’s terms of use. There is no easy refund if a series disappoints after you unlock it, as coin purchases are final. After 12 months of inactivity, coins are also forfeited, so a balance left untouched for a year can simply disappear. A 14-day right of withdrawal covers viewers in the EU and UK, reflecting the consumer rules in those markets. Except where the law requires otherwise, purchases made on the web are labeled non-refundable. The most important point of all: the terms state plainly that deleting the app does not cancel your subscription. To cancel on an iPhone, open Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions; on Android, use the Subscriptions menu in Google Play. For store purchases, refunds are handled by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
It is also useful to know exactly who stands 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. 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 hunting for a hack, is the legitimate move when the price feels too high.
The Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood
My Drama is not the biggest vertical drama app, and going by install counts it is not close. What it offers instead is 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 upside for My Drama viewers. Like every rival, the drawback is a weekly pass of around $19.99 that keeps renewing quietly in the background. For Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a TV, the My Drama app earns a place on your home screen. When the largest claimed library is all you want, ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious pick. Either way, set a reminder the day you subscribe, and cancel through your store account rather than trusting the delete button.
