Ukrainian HOLYWATER Transforms Vertical Video Storytelling in Strategic Partnership with FOX Entertainment

• Ukrainian AI startup HOLYWATER secures equity investment from FOX Entertainment to co-produce 200 series for MyDrama app
• The partnership boosts FOX’s digital storytelling strategy while expanding HOLYWATER’s global vertical video presence
• Teaming up with FOX provides HOLYWATER with access to global IP, talent, and resources to scale its content creation and distribution

This October, HOLYWATER—the Ukrainian ecosystem of content platforms—received an undisclosed amount of equity investment from the major global media corporation FOX Entertainment. The strategic partnership is meant to co-produce over 200 series for HOLYWATER’s MyDrama app, with FOX handling financing, logistics, and talent engagement while HOLYWATER manages co-production, distribution, and analytics. Thus FOX strengthens its digital storytelling and tech-driven studio strategy while HOLYWATER expands its presence in the USD 8B global vertical video market.

HOLYWATER, Its Founders, and Its Expanding Ecosystem in a Nutshell

Founded in Ukraine in 2020 by Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, HOLYWATER is described as a pioneering tech company transforming the entertainment landscape by using cutting-edge technology and a forward-thinking business model to help filmmakers, authors, and studios bring their stories to a global audience.

Mr Nesvit studied political science at Oxford before earning his Master’s degree in Economics from University College London. He began his career as a Research Analyst intern at the United Nations in New York, gaining a global perspective on development and human potential. Transitioning to the corporate sector, he joined British American Tobacco, where he worked on international projects focused on efficiency optimization, quality-assurance software, product discovery, and market research. Leading cross-functional teams in London, he specialized in next-generation product categories.

In 2015, Mr Nesvit founded his first startup, which, despite its lack of success, became a learning experience in product development and business operations. In 2017, he joined Genesis—the Ukrainian IT holding that develops product companies and spins off the most successful ones as independent businesses—as Head of Operations, learning how to build and scale tech products. This led him to co-founding HOLYWATER with Mr Kasianov and building one of the region’s most innovative tech companies.

In turn, Mr Kasianov began coding independently as early as a schoolboy at a physics and mathematics lyceum. He later studied under the IB program in the UK, but, inspired by Silicon Valley, he shifted his focus from academics to real-world projects, honing his programming skills and eventually becoming a founder—the journey that culminated in co-founding HOLYWATER.

As of today, HOLYWATER’s ecosystem reaches over 55 million users. Its flagship apps include MyDrama — a vertical streaming platform, FreeBits — its companion platform with ad-supported revenue, MyPassion — an e-book platform, and MyMuse — a platform for AI-driven vertical series. Each platform features serialized, daily content to boost engagement, with flexible monetization options. HOLYWATER collaborates with top creators and studios globally and partners with tech giants like Meta, Google, and TikTok to expand its reach and maximize content distribution.

‘At HOLYWATER, we’re building technology to help creators unlock their potential and reach millions with their stories. We believe that when used wisely, AI can enhance human creativity, empowering authors to produce, distribute, and monetize their work more effectively,’ Mr Kasianov explains HOLYWATER’s vision of the interplay between human creativity and AI in storytelling.

Vertical Video Redefining Content Strategy and Digital Storytelling

With vertical video content becoming a growth area, HOLYWATER uncovered unique user behaviours and analytical insights that differ this format from the traditional horizontal one and impact content strategy.

‘Vertical video unlocks very different user behavior and analytics patterns compared to traditional horizontal content. Vertical videos like ours are perfectly tailored for today’s content consumption habits shaped by TikTok and Instagram: mobile-first, vertical, and designed for short attention spans. Each episode is fast-paced, packed with hooks and cliffhangers, and easily digestible on the go. They meet audiences where they already spend most of their time — on social platforms. And because each episode lasts around a minute, people can watch them anywhere, anytime, without committing to a full-length show,’ Mr Kasianov tells ITKeyMedia.

According to HOLYWATER, traditional horizontal content, while it retains its greatness, doesn’t offer that flexibility and doesn’t adapt to modern viewing habits. In long-form formats, a viewer often has to commit much more time before understanding whether the content is something they actually like.

These behavioral differences drive a new content strategy: shorter episodes, faster narrative hooks, and high-frequency storytelling designed for mobile consumption. Instead of spending months validating a concept, vertical formats allow rapid testing, fast iteration and audience feedback — which ultimately leads to higher engagement, stronger retention, and lower creative risk.

FOX Entertainment’s CEO Rob Wade, meanwhile, notes Hollywood’s initial skepticism toward new formats but emphasizes that creating successful micro-dramas requires a unique skill set, particularly in keeping audiences engaged across bite-sized episodes:

‘For us to come in there and say we have a legacy of storytelling, I think, is pretty arrogant. There’s an opportunity here to go out and tell stories that you otherwise couldn’t sell or make. And if they’re successful, there’s the option to take them to different formats. Everyone should embrace this as an opportunity for more business.’

FOX’ CEO is firmly convinced that innovation in digital storytelling is shaping the future of entertainment and investing in vertical video positions FOX Entertainment to achieve sustained, long-term growth while building a modern studio for the future.

Scaling Creative Workflows and Expanding Opportunities

‘HOLYWATER is at the forefront of this evolution, skillfully using technology to fuel creativity. This partnership is all about finding different, innovative ways to tell stories and inspire storytellers and creators like never before, while giving us the tools and flexibility to bring talent ideas to life faster, smarter and across more platforms worldwide,’ Mr Wade states.

Following the investment and the partnership with FOX Entertainment, HOLYWATER’s creative workflow scales both in content production and talent involved in production. And access to FOX’s library of globally recognized IP and world-class talent allows HOLYWATER to develop exclusive vertical content, adapt well-known stories for new audiences, and delve into experiments with formats that weren’t possible before.

‘In short, the workflow becomes bigger, faster, and more collaborative — while still keeping the creative vision, and HOLYWATER’s core automation and distribution stack, at the heart of every series,’ Mr Kasianov summarizes.

‘Our vision is to build the world’s #1 vertical streaming platform and lead the evolution of entertainment toward mobile-first, high-quality, bite-sized content. To achieve this, we’re producing high-quality, yet emotionally powerful series with top talents and entering new markets through studios such as Elefantec Global. Our partnership with FOX Entertainment is the next step in this journey — together, we’re poised to expand beyond microdramas into ‘micro-everything’: horror, thriller, action, unscripted, and more – essentially adding new genres to the library,’ Mr Nesvit shares in conclusion.

Transforming the entertainment industry by leveraging AI-driven vertical video content to meet modern mobile-first viewing habits, HOLYATER places the focus on creating fast-paced, bite-sized entertainment that engages audiences on popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The strategic partnership with FOX Entertainment involves co-producing 200 series for HOLYWATER’s MyDrama app, strengthening FOX’s digital storytelling capabilities and expanding HOLYWATER’s reach in the rapidly growing vertical video market. With access to FOX’s global IP, talent, and resources, HOLYWATER is set to scale its innovative content model, exploring new genres and shaping the future of mobile-first, high-quality entertainment.