Who Owns ReelShort, DramaBox and the Other Apps

Who is behind each app?

What the store listings, company pages and trade press show, as of October 2026:

The App Store seller names were re-checked on October 2, 2026. A Singapore or Hong Kong seller is the contracting company on your receipt. On its own, it says nothing about who owns that company. So the table only names a parent where trade press or the company itself does.

Each brand page shows the developer name from the app's own store listing and the date it was checked. Who films a show is a separate question, covered in short drama studios and publishers.

Is ReelShort Chinese?

Yes, by ownership, though the operator is not based in China. TIME calls Crazy Maple Studio a Silicon Valley-based, Chinese-backed company. Wikipedia describes Crazy Maple Studio, which operates ReelShort, as backed and partially owned by COL Group, a Beijing-based digital publisher, with offices including Shenzhen. ReelShort launched in August 2022. According to Wikipedia, it passed 370 million downloads and $700 million in revenue in 2025.

The app is sold under New Leaf Publishing, Inc. on the US App Store (NewLeaf Publishing on Google Play), the name you see on your receipt. More in the ReelShort guide. COL Group's links to a second app are traced in who owns FlareFlow.

Who owns DramaBox?

The developer is STORYMATRIX PTE. LTD., listed on Google Play with an address in Singapore. Wikipedia names StoryMatrix as DramaBox's operator and reports $323 million in revenue for 2024. Press coverage links the company to Chinese digital publishers. That link is not confirmed in a primary source checked for this page, so it is not stated as fact here. See the DramaBox guide.

Who owns DramaBox's parent, Dianzhong?

Wikipedia's DramaBox article goes further than the store listing. It says Beijing-based Dianzhong Technology developed the app and StoryMatrix, Dianzhong's Singapore subsidiary, owns it. It cites the Sydney Morning Herald, Sohu and Deadline. Chinese business site 36Kr also names Dianzhong as DramaBox's operator. 36Kr put its overseas short-drama revenue above 2 billion yuan in 2024. The store listing on its own still shows only STORYMATRIX PTE. LTD.

Who owns ShortMax, GoodShort and NetShort?

All three are sold through companies in Singapore or Hong Kong with Chinese parents named in trade press.

• ShortMax: the US App Store seller is SHORTTV LIMITED. EqualOcean reported in December 2024 that Jiuzhou Culture launched ShortMax in September 2023 and that it reached nearly 5 million overseas users. See ShortMax.
• GoodShort: the seller is SINGAPORE NEW READING TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD. Caixin names Beijing New Reading Technology as the company behind GoodShort and lists it among the top earners abroad. See GoodShort.
• NetShort: the seller is NETSTORY PTE. LTD. Caixin and 36Kr both name Maiya Media as NetShort's company. Caixin reported $57 million in total sales between its July 2024 launch and mid-2025. See NetShort.

Who owns DramaWave?

Kunlun Tech, a Chinese technology company also known as Kunlun Wanwei. The US App Store seller is SKYWORK AI PTE LTD. Caixin named Kunlun Tech as DramaWave's owner in June 2025 and reported about 10 million monthly users and $10 million in revenue that May. The same report noted Kunlun's net loss grew 310% in the first quarter, partly from marketing. See DramaWave.

Who owns FlickReels, FlexTV and Kalos TV?

The store listings name a seller and nothing more. No trade report checked for this page names a parent. FlickReels is sold by FARSUN PTE. LTD., FlexTV by YUDER PTE. LTD., and Kalos TV by Storyverse Co., Limited. Treat any parent-company claim you read elsewhere as unconfirmed until the company or a named trade outlet states it. The brand pages track this: FlickReels, FlexTV, Kalos TV.

Is Melolo owned by ByteDance?

Reportedly, yes. Melolo's store listings and website name POLIGON PTE. LTD. in Singapore. 36Kr's May 2025 survey of overseas short-drama apps lists Melolo under ByteDance. The Information reported that ByteDance released Melolo, and the Melolo guide cites that report for Poligon being a ByteDance subsidiary. If those reports hold, ByteDance is behind two apps in this guide, Melolo and TikTok's PineDrama.

Why does my receipt show a company I don't recognise?

Apple and Google show the seller, not the company that owns the brand. A ReelShort charge can carry New Leaf Publishing. A DramaWave charge can carry SKYWORK AI. If a charge on your statement shows a name you cannot place, check it against the seller column above, then read unknown charge from a short drama app.

How do you check who makes an app before installing it?

The store listing tells you in under a minute.

1. App Store: scroll to the Information section and read the Seller line. The developer name sits under the app title.
2. Google Play: open About this app or App support. The developer's name, email and postal address are listed there.
3. Look for the privacy policy link on the same listing. It names the legal entity that holds your data.
4. Compare the name with the app you meant to install. Copycat apps use similar titles but a different seller.

How much money do these companies make?

Enough to pay for all that advertising. Caixin reported that short-drama apps earned nearly $700 million worldwide in the first quarter of 2025, with the US bringing in 49% of it. 36Kr put ReelShort's 2024 revenue at 2.91 billion yuan and DramaBox's overseas business above 2 billion yuan. Caixin also reported that COL Group, ReelShort's backer, booked a 240 million yuan loss in 2024 as marketing costs climbed. For what that means at checkout, see short drama app prices.

Which apps are not Chinese?

• My Drama is made by Holywater Tech, founded in Ukraine by Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov and launched in 2024. Holywater raised $22 million in January 2026 in a round led by Horizon Capital. See My Drama.
• PineDrama is TikTok's own short drama app, launched in the US and Brazil in January 2026. TikTok is owned by ByteDance. See PineDrama.

Who runs Crazy Maple Studio, ReelShort's operator?

Crazy Maple Studio's CEO is Joey Jia, according to TIME, which profiled the company in 2024. TIME reported that ReelShort averaged about $10 million a month in revenue at the time. A typical 60 to 90 episode series cost about $300,000 to make. Its backer, COL Group, is a digital publisher based in China. The money and the parent are Chinese. TIME calls Crazy Maple Silicon Valley-based.

Who is behind My Drama's company, Holywater?

Holywater is a Ukraine-based company run by co-founders and co-CEOs Bogdan Nesvit and Anatolii Kasianov, according to Tech.eu. Its January 2026 round of $22 million was led by Horizon Capital, with Endeavor Catalyst and Wheelhouse joining. Fox Entertainment had invested in October 2025. Besides My Drama, Holywater runs My Passion (digital books), My Muse (AI-assisted vertical series) and Freebits (ad-supported streaming). The App Store seller for My Drama is Holy Water Limited.

Why does ownership matter?

For most viewers, it matters less than billing. The questions that affect you are the same for any app:

1. What data does it collect? The privacy policy is linked from every store listing.
2. How does it bill you? Paying through Apple or Google lets you cancel and request refunds there. Paying by card on a website means dealing with the app directly.
3. Can you reach anyone? Check the support contact on the store listing before you pay.

Each app's is-it-safe page answers these: is ReelShort safe?, is DramaBox safe?.

Why are so many of the apps Chinese?

Because the format was built in China first. Short dramas grew on Douyin and Kuaishou from around 2018. By the end of 2024 China had 662 million viewers and a market of more than 50 billion yuan. Chinese publishers then took the model abroad. The history is in duanju explained, and the role of AI in AI short dramas.