Fox Entertainment is getting into the microdrama biz: The company has made an equity investment in Holywater, a Ukrainian tech firm focused on vertical video.
Financial terms of Fox Entertainment’s investment in Holywater were not disclosed. As part of the Holywater investment deal, Fox Entertainment Studios has committed to creating and producing an “ongoing” portfolio of more than 200 vertical video titles for Holywater’s My Drama app over the next two years that will span genres, including microdramas. The inaugural vertical video series to be produced by Fox Entertainment Studios include “Billionaire Blackmail” and “Bound by Obsession,” both currently in production and shooting in Atlanta.
According to Fox Entertainment, the investment in Holywater represents the company’s embrace of “a proven digital entertainment innovator” that is “harnessing cutting-edge technology and a forward-facing business model to lead the next generation of entertainment.”
Holywater, based in Kyiv, Ukraine, was founded in 2020 by co-CEOs Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov. The company claims its four apps together reach more than 55 million users. The apps are: My Drama, a vertical streaming app; FreeBits, a companion ad-supported vertical streaming app; ebook platform My Passion; and My Muse, a platform for vertical series produced with the support of generative AI. Per Holywater, each platform uses serialized, daily content releases to maximize engagement with installments accessible through multiple monetization options.
Fox Entertainment said it will work with Holywater on original vertical video series production, ad sales and brand partnerships — and potential integration of Fox intellectual property, including extensions of current Fox shows and remakes. Fox said it will unveil “development deals with top Hollywood talent” for the Holywater partnership soon. Holywater works with creators and studios worldwide and has partnerships with tech companies including Meta, Google and TikTok to maximize content distribution.
“Innovation in digital storytelling is shaping the future of entertainment and investing in vertical video positions Fox Entertainment to achieve sustained, long-term growth as we build a modern studio for the future,” said Rob Wade, CEO of Fox Entertainment, in a statement. “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.”
Holywater’s Nesvit and Kasianov said in a prepared statement, “Vertical streaming is one of the fastest-growing areas in entertainment, and our goal at Holywater is to make vertical series mainstream by raising the bar on quality and widening the genre slate… Our partnership with Fox Entertainment validates that vision and gives us the scale and creative firepower to accelerate it.” They added that Fox has “already been a collaborative, innovative partner, and together we’re empowering major talent and building a vibrant library of gripping vertical series for audiences worldwide.”
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The Holywater partnership will be able to tap into Fox Entertainment Studios’ portfolio of studio content, including Studio Ramsay Global with chef Gordon Ramsay; animation studio Bento Box Entertainment; its scripted and unscripted studios and library of 350 made-for-platform movies; and a talent roster that spans Denis Leary, Jon Hamm, Hannah Waddingham, Josh Charles, Annie Potts, Minnie Driver and Ken Jeong.
In June, Fox Corp. announced an investment in The Lighthouse, a studio and campus space designed specifically for creators to collaborate and develop content. Fox Entertainment is developing plans to expand on that strategy, using the Fox Studios Lot in Century City as a hub for “creator-powered innovation that is already defining the future of entertainment.”
The Raine Group served as adviser to Holywater in connection with the Fox Entertainment deal.
From Variety US