How a Kyiv Studio Wagered on the Vertical Drama
TV wasn’t how Holywater got its start. Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov set up the studio in 2020 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its portfolio even now looks more like a mobile entertainment lab than a streaming service. My Passion handles books, My Muse handles AI, and FreeBits completes the lineup beside My Drama. That breadth is significant, since it shows a business that sees video as one consumer product among several rather than its whole identity. Eventually, Holywater bet on the vertical drama, a format that began in China as duanju and is composed 9:16 for an upright phone. The category’s biggest names were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups, so breaking into this market was a bold https://reelshorttv.org/series/medical-genius-is-not-someone-to-mess-with/ step for a small Ukrainian business.
The My Drama App Launches in Spring 2024
The My Drama app arrived in spring 2024, but the exact date hinges on which listing you believe. The launch timing differs by source: TechCrunch placed it in April, Google Play shows March 13, 2024, and the App Store shows May 9, 2024. Based on the difference between those store dates, Android likely came first and the iPhone version arrived about two months later. The genre’s favorite tropes dominated the initial slate. Initial titles featured The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss, names that tell you most of what you need to know about the mood. The company was ultimately set apart not by the stories themselves but by the collaborator 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. Three months later, in January 2026, Holywater closed $22M in a round led by Horizon Capital. Among the Fox-produced titles on the platform are Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. The company also has a Webby Award for Best Streaming Service from 2025, a credential it displays on its App Store listing. Put together, those milestones hand My Drama something few rivals can claim, namely a major American studio serving as both shareholder and producer.
My Drama Fact File
For readers who only have a minute, the table below is the quick version of the story. The ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that matter most to a new viewer are pulled together there. All prices come from the US App Store as of September 2026. Country, platform and promotion all affect them, so treat them as a guide rather than a quote. The app shows 5M+ downloads on Google Play, which is what the install count refers to. Where you live determines the legal entity you contract with, a detail that is relevant if you ever need to dispute a charge.
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Holywater (established in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020) |
| Founders | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Companion apps | My Passion for books, My Muse for AI, plus FreeBits |
| Legal entity for US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Contracting entity, other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch date | Spring 2024 (Google Play on March 13; App Store on May 9) |
| Supported platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro and web |
| Android installs | 5M+ on Google Play |
| Full-access pass | Roughly $19.99 a week, auto-renewing |
| Coin packs | About $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium plans | About $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Production partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Investment | $22M raised in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Recognition | 2025 Webby Award, Best Streaming Service |
What It Feels Like to Watch My Drama
The basic experience matches the one the whole category is built on. Episodes are vertical and framed for an upright phone; in this genre episodes usually last one or two minutes, and then a cliffhanger pushes you on to the next one. Since series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes, a single story can quietly eat up an evening in bite-sized pieces. Where this drama app really stands out is the range of screens it supports. It is listed for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro, on top of iPhone, iPad and Android. For comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all, so this big-screen option is less common than you might expect. Of course, a 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV, yet the option transforms a solo phone habit into something a couple can enjoy together.
In terms of content, the catalog mixes Holywater’s own early productions with the growing Fox slate. As titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make plain, the Fox releases stick close to the genre’s familiar formula. Here, the honest caveat is scale. The app lists 5M+ installs on Google Play, a small fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each show. That gap tells you where My Drama sits in 2026: a well-backed challenger rather than the category leader.
Pricing: How Much My Drama Costs in 2026
Of the three ways Holywater sells access, the weekly pass carries the key figure. “My Drama: Full Access” is priced at around $19.99 per week 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. Coin packs, used to unlock individual episodes, range from around $4.99 to $24.99. The store also lists a separate Premium tier at about $4.99 to $9.99, giving lighter viewers lower-cost entry points than the full pass. As with its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription auto-renews until you cancel it. Country, platform and promotional offers all change prices, so the figure on your own screen may differ. Do the math first: with four renewals, a $19.99 weekly pass adds up to about $80 a month.
Before You Pay: The Terms to Know
My Drama’s terms of use contain fine print that deserves more attention than most viewers pay it. There is no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it, because coin purchases are final. After 12 months of inactivity, coins are also forfeited, so a balance left untouched for a year can simply disappear. In the EU and UK, there is a 14-day right of withdrawal, which reflects the consumer rules in those markets. Except where the law requires otherwise, web purchases are labeled non-refundable. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription, and the terms state so plainly, which is the most important point of all. iPhone owners cancel under Settings, then their name, then Subscriptions, while Android users go through the Subscriptions menu in Google Play. Apple or Google, not Holywater, process refunds for store purchases.
It also pays to know exactly who stands on the other side of the contract. For US users, the contracting party is XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company; everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. One more warning applies here as much as to any vertical drama app. Any 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 seems too high, the proper move is to cancel the pass, not to look for a hack.
Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
On install counts, My Drama is not the largest vertical drama app, and it is not even close. 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 make up the uncommon combination it offers instead. Viewers get a practical benefit in Apple TV support, which ReelShort, for one, does not list. The catch is the same one that plagues every rival, namely a weekly pass of about $19.99 that renews quietly in the background. The My Drama app earns a place on your home screen if you want Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a television. When the largest claimed library is simply what you want, ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious pick. Either way, create a reminder the day you subscribe, and cancel through your store account rather than trusting the delete button.
