How a Kyiv Studio Wagered on the Vertical Drama
Holywater was not started as a television company. Back in 2020 Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov set up the studio in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its lineup to this day reads more like a lab for mobile entertainment than a streaming service. My Drama sits in a portfolio with My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. That spread matters, since video is one of several consumer products for the company, not its entire identity. The vertical drama, a format born in China as duanju and framed 9:16 for an upright phone, became its eventual wager. The category’s biggest names were supported by Chinese and Singaporean groups, so entering this market was a brave step for a small Ukrainian https://dramaboxmovies.net/series/bound-by-vendetta-sleeping-with-the-enemy/ company.
Spring 2024: The My Drama App Arrives
The exact launch date of the My Drama app depends on which source you believe, but it went live in spring 2024. Google Play shows March 13, 2024, the App Store shows May 9, 2024, and TechCrunch put the launch in April. The gap between those store dates hints that Android came first and the iPhone version arrived about two months later. The launch slate leaned heavily on the genre’s most popular tropes. The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss were some of the first titles, names that tell you most of what you need to know about the mood. What ultimately set the company apart was not the stories themselves but the collaborator it would soon be making them with.
A 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, with an agreement that included a pledge to make more than 200 vertical titles over two years. In January 2026, three months later, Holywater secured $22M in a round led by Horizon Capital. Included in the Fox-produced titles on the platform are Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside. The company also has a 2025 Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, a credential it displays on its App Store listing. Those milestones, taken together, give My Drama a distinctive asset that few rivals can claim: a major American studio serving as both shareholder and producer.
The My Drama Fact File
For readers who only have a minute, the table below is the condensed version of the story. It pulls together the ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that count most to a new viewer. Prices are the ones listed in the US App Store as of September 2026. They differ by country, platform and promotion, so read them as a rough guide rather than a firm quote. Which legal entity you contract with depends on where you live, a detail that is relevant if you ever need to dispute a charge. The app shows 5M+ downloads on Google Play, which is the store the install figure refers to.
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Owned by | Holywater, founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020 |
| Founded by | Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov |
| Sister apps | My Passion (books), My Muse (AI), FreeBits |
| Contract party, US users | XOLY LIMITED (Delaware) |
| Legal entity for other users | Holy Water Limited (Nicosia, Cyprus) |
| Launch | Spring 2024 (Google Play: March 13; App Store: May 9) |
| Supported platforms | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV (tvOS 18+), Vision Pro, Android, web |
| Android downloads | Google Play: 5M+ |
| Full-access pass | About $19.99 per week, with automatic renewal |
| Coin bundles | Around $4.99 to $24.99 |
| Premium tier | About $4.99 to $9.99 |
| Production partner | Fox Entertainment, equity stake held since October 2025, 200+ titles over two years |
| Latest funding | $22M in January 2026, led by Horizon Capital |
| Recognition | Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, 2025 |
How Watching on My Drama Feels
At its core, the experience is the same one the whole category is built on. Episodes are vertical and framed for a phone held upright; in this genre episodes typically run one or two minutes, and then a cliffhanger pushes you toward the next one. A single story can silently swallow an evening in short bites, as series often run anywhere from 20 to 100 episodes. This drama app truly stands out in the range of screens it supports. Beyond iPhone, iPad and Android, it is listed for Apple TV on tvOS 18 or later and for Vision Pro. This big-screen option is less common than you might expect: for comparison, ReelShort’s App Store listing shows no Apple TV version at all. A 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen TV, but the option transforms a solo phone habit into something a couple can enjoy together.
In terms of 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 established formula. Scale is where the candid caveat comes in. ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each list 100M+ installs on Google Play, while the app lists 5M+, a fraction of that. This gap places My Drama in 2026 as a well-funded challenger rather than the category leader.
Pricing: How Much My Drama Costs in 2026
Of the three ways Holywater sells access, the weekly pass is the main figure. About $19.99 per week is what “My Drama: Full Access” costs in the US App Store as of September 2026. ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort list their weekly passes at about the same price in the same store, so My Drama sits level with them. To unlock individual episodes, there are coin bundles priced from about $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. Country, platform and promotional offers all change prices, so the figure on your own screen may differ. Just as with its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription auto-renews until you cancel it. Before committing, run the numbers: four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass total about $80 a month.
Terms to Know Before You Pay
The terms of use for My Drama include fine print that deserves more attention than most viewers give it. All coin purchase is final, which means no easy refund if a series disappoints 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 vanish. Viewers in the EU and UK get a 14-day right of withdrawal, reflecting the consumer rules in those markets. Purchases made on the web are labeled non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription, and the terms state so plainly, and that 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. When you buy through a store, refunds are processed by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.
It is also wise to know exactly who sits on the other side of the contract. US users sign with XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. As with any vertical drama app, one more warning applies here. Sites that promise modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators are unofficial and are not a safe way to watch anything. If the price seems too high, the proper move is to cancel the pass, not to hunt for a hack.
Our Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner
My Drama is not the biggest vertical drama app, and on install counts it is not even close. Rather, it offers 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. The catch is the same one that affects every rival, namely a weekly pass of around $19.99 that renews quietly in the background. Anyone who wants Fox-produced romance and the option to watch on a television will find that the My Drama app deserves a place on their home screen. If you simply want the largest claimed library, 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.
