Start Short Dramas Movies Now What to Know First

A Kyiv Studio Bets on the Vertical Drama

The company called Holywater did not begin life as a TV company. In 2020 Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov established the company in Kyiv, Ukraine, and its product lineup still reads more like a mobile entertainment laboratory than a streaming platform. Next to My Drama you will find My Passion for books, My Muse for AI and FreeBits. That spread is significant, since it describes a business that regards video as one of several consumer products free drama shorts actors rather than its complete identity. Ultimately, it made its wager on the vertical drama, a format born in China as duanju and framed 9:16 for a phone held upright. The groups behind the category’s biggest names were Chinese and Singaporean, which made this a bold market for a small Ukrainian firm to enter.

Spring 2024: The My Drama App Arrives

The precise launch date of the My Drama app hinges on which record you believe, but it arrived in spring 2024. Per TechCrunch, the launch came in April, whereas Google Play shows March 13, 2024, and the App Store lists May 9, 2024. Based on the difference between those store dates, Android likely came first and the iPhone version followed about two months later. The genre’s go-to tropes shaped the initial slate. Most of what you need to know about the mood is clear in initial titles such as The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast and Love Captive to a Mafia Boss. The company was eventually set apart not by the stories themselves but by the collaborator it would soon be producing them with.

Fox, $22M in Fresh Funding and a Webby Win

My Drama stopped being just a startup curiosity in October 2025. An equity stake in Holywater was taken by Fox Entertainment, and the agreement carried a commitment to produce more than 200 vertical titles over two years. Horizon Capital headed a $22M round for Holywater three months later, in January 2026. Billionaire Blackmail, Bound by Obsession and My Heart’s Offside are among the Fox-produced titles on the platform. The company also holds a 2025 Webby Award for Best Streaming Service, a credential it shows off on its App Store listing. These milestones, taken together, hand My Drama a distinctive asset that few rivals can claim: a major American studio acting as both shareholder and producer.

My Drama at a Glance

For anyone who only has a moment, the table below gives the short version of the story. It gathers in one place the ownership, legal, platform and pricing details that matter most to a first-time viewer. Prices are the ones displayed in the US App Store as of September 2026. Treat them as a rough guide rather than a firm quote, as they vary by country, platform and promotion. The app shows 5M+ downloads on Google Play, which is what the install figure refers to. Where you live decides the legal entity you deal with, something that becomes relevant if you ever need to challenge a charge.

The My Drama Viewing Experience

The central experience is the one the whole category is built on. In this genre, episodes usually run a minute or two before a cliffhanger nudges you on to the next one, and they are vertical, framed for an upright phone. Because 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 really sets itself apart. Besides iPhone, iPad and Android, it is listed 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. Of course, a 9:16 frame will never fill a widescreen television, yet the option transforms a solo phone habit into something a couple can enjoy together.

Holywater’s own early productions and the growing Fox slate share the library, which blends the two. The Fox releases hew close to the genre’s familiar formula, as titles like Billionaire Blackmail and Bound by Obsession make obvious. Scale is where the candid caveat comes in. With 5M+ installs on Google Play, the app has a small fraction of the 100M+ that ReelShort, DramaBox and ShortMax each show. This gap makes clear where My Drama stands in 2026, as a well-financed challenger rather than the category leader.

Pricing: What My Drama Costs in 2026

Of the three ways Holywater sells access, the weekly pass carries the main figure. As of September 2026, the US App Store prices “My Drama: Full Access” at around $19.99 a week. That puts it in line with the weekly passes from ReelShort, ShortMax, DramaWave and GoodShort, each listed at about the same price in the same store. To unlock individual episodes, there are coin bundles running from roughly $4.99 to $24.99. A separate Premium tier is listed at roughly $4.99 to $9.99, so lighter viewers have less expensive entry points than the full pass. As with its rivals’ plans, the weekly subscription renews automatically until you cancel the plan. Country, platform and promotional offers all affect prices, so the figure on your own screen may be different. Do the math before you commit, because four renewals of a $19.99 weekly pass add up to around $80 a month.

Before You Pay: The Terms to Know

The terms of use for My Drama include fine print that deserves more attention than most viewers give it. Coin purchases are final, so there is no easy refund if a series lets you down after you unlock it. A balance you ignore for a year can simply vanish, because coins are forfeited after 12 months of inactivity. Purchases made on the web are labeled non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. Reflecting the consumer rules in those markets, viewers in the EU and UK get a 14-day right of withdrawal. The crucial point of all: the terms state plainly that deleting the app does not cancel your subscription. Android users go through the Subscriptions menu in Google Play, while on an iPhone you cancel under Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions. For store purchases, refunds are processed by Apple or Google, not by Holywater.

Understanding exactly who sits on the other side of the contract also helps. XOLY LIMITED, a Delaware company, handles US users, while everyone else contracts with Holy Water Limited in Nicosia, Cyprus. Another warning applies to My Drama as much as to any vertical drama app. Sites advertising modded APKs, unlimited coins or free coin generators are unofficial and are not a safe way to watch anything. Canceling the pass, not looking for a hack, is the proper move if the price feels steep.

Verdict: A Challenger With Hollywood in Its Corner

Measured by install counts, My Drama is not the largest vertical drama app, and it is not close. What it offers instead is an uncommon 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. Viewers get a practical advantage in Apple TV support, which ReelShort, for one, does not list. The downside is the same one that dogs every rival: a weekly pass of around $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. ShortMax, with its 50,000+ dramas, is the more obvious choice if you simply want the largest claimed library. Whatever you decide, do not trust the delete button: set a reminder the day you subscribe and cancel through your store account.