YouTube creator extraordinaire Dhar Mann doesn’t do anything small — well, except maybe now this. But even his entry into microdramas is big.
Fox Entertainment and Dhar Mann’s production company Dhar Mann Studios are teaming up to create microdramas for Holywater’s MyDrama platform, marking Mann’s first foray into the burgeoning vertical videos business.
Under the multiyear deal, Dhar Mann Studios will create and produce 40 narrative-driven vertical video titles — and that’s just the “initial slate.” The content will first window on Holywater‘s MyDrama app, after which Fox Entertainment Global gets to distribute it worldwide. Mann, who will have “creative independence over his original content,” retains ownership. In other words, he can then post them to his own giant YouTube and Instagram audiences and enjoy the spoils of the ad revenue.
Fox Entertainment took an equity stake in Holywater last year.
“Dhar Mann’s inspiring, undeniable storytelling excellence and passionate audience have made him one of the most powerful and consequential voices in entertainment today,” Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said in a statement. “Entering the global vertical video arena in partnership with Fox and Holywater is an exciting next step in the studio’s remarkable trajectory. As leading partners to creators exploring this growing ecosystem, we’re primed to expand Dhar Mann Studios’ reach by super-serving his new and existing fans everywhere with this all-new, original vertical content.”
“As we introduce Dhar’s creative vision to this new format and era of entertainment, it became clear that Fox Entertainment and Holywater are partners that truly understand what this scope of ambition requires,” said Dhar Mann CEO Sean Atkins and Erin McFarlane, Dhar Mann Studios’ newly appointed head of vertical tontent. “Rob and his team are both embracing innovation and investing in it, affording us an unprecedented level of creative autonomy and resources needed to build something that has never been done before at this scale. That combination allows us to reach new and existing audiences in powerful ways while staying true to Dhar’s positive and resonant storytelling.”
McFarlane was basically hired for this very assignment.
“Holywater was built to be the ultimate platform for creators who want to push storytelling forward, and this partnership with Dhar Mann Studios exemplifies that mission,” said Holywater co-founders and co-CEOs Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov. “We’re pleased to partner with Dhar and Fox to bring this creative vision to our audiences worldwide. This represents the first step in our broader strategy to attract global creators and top-tier talent to vertical storytelling at scale.”
“Collaborating with Fox and Holywater in the vertical space adds a new dimension to Dhar Mann Studios’ outstanding universe of creative content and delivers our long-standing distribution partners the highly engaging, narrative-driven entertainment their audiences crave,” said Prentiss Fraser, president of Fox Entertainment Global. “At the same time, this deal further solidifies Holywater’s mobile-first dominance through an entirely new lane of verticals that move, inspire, and redefine modern storytelling.”
Fox Entertainment Studios is in active production on 200 original vertical video series for Holywater.
