BIG Ideas with Toni's Film Club

Toni Vesdream has been creating videos in one form or another since he was twelve years old on the Bulgarian version of YouTube. Today, his channel Toni’s Film Club blends film history, industry insights, and humor into smart, engaging video essays. In this BIG Ideas conversation, Toni shares the journey from side projects to full-time creator, the lessons learned from big flops and big wins, and the vision he is chasing for the future.

Toni’s Creator Journey

Q: Tell us about your channel! What’s the name of your channel, what niche are you in, and what type of videos do you make?

A: My name is Toni and I run the YouTube channel Toni’s Film Club. It is all about film history and the movie industry in general. You can think of it as a mix between video essays, cutaway gags, and humor. The goal is to be educational while you do not even realize you are learning.

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Q: Let’s start at the beginning. Why did you first start creating YouTube videos? What inspired you to hit publish for the first time?

A: I started posting videos on the Bulgarian version of YouTube back in 2007 when I was about 12 years old. I did not even know YouTube existed and I did not speak any English. The videos were basically glorified slideshows, but they were educational and covered fun facts or deep dives into whatever I was interested in at the time. I have always been drawn to making videos. When I moved to Denmark at 18, I got even more into YouTube and since 2014 I have tried many different channels. Most of them were unsuccessful, but no matter how many times I gave up, I could only last about a week before I had to try again.

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Q: What’s the journey been like since then? How has your life changed over the course of your YouTube journey?

A: Since then I have worked many different jobs and turned videography into my professional career. I filmed music videos and commercials, and later I did consulting work creating promotional videos for companies. On the side I was always trying to do YouTube for myself. For the past 10 years that was always the case until about a year ago when I burned out at work. I decided it was either now or never to try YouTube properly because I would come home from work exhausted and only have maybe an hour to work on a video. Last April I quit my job and told myself that even if I failed, at least I would know I tried. My life has changed a lot since starting this channel, and even though it is still early, having support and validation from Spotter has meant a lot.

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Q: If you achieved everything you’ve ever wanted with your channel, what would that look like?

A: If YouTube became what I really want it to be, it would be part of a bigger puzzle. Toni’s Film Club would be the main hub where we talk about the film industry, meet people from the industry, and make it both educational and fun. It would build a community that loves to support movies, original films, and creators, and hopefully we could also produce original creative movies. I would love to have a small theater where we do screenings and film events, creating a safe bubble for people who love movies. That is the long-term vision.

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Q: Help us fill in the blank: “The best ideas come when I’m______”

A: The best ideas come when I am not actively thinking about them. There is a great essay by Isaac Asimov called The Eureka Phenomenon that talks about how many important discoveries happened when people were not actively thinking about the problem. My experience has been that once you have read about an idea and thought about it, your brain keeps working on it in the background. Then, at random moments like while having a conversation, making food, or taking a shower, the idea will just appear. I have even woken up in the middle of the night with a title I had been thinking about for weeks, written it down in my notes, gone back to sleep, and found it there in the morning. It shows that the ideas really do come when you least expect them.

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Q: (Optional) How has Spotter Studio helped your channel? What do you love most about it?

A: Spotter Studio helps me get unstuck from tunnel vision when I am brainstorming a thumbnail or a title. I often get stuck in one lane, making small tweaks that do not really work, and I fail to think about different options that could be much better. Spotter can offer a completely different perspective and suddenly it just clicks. For brainstorming, it is the best partner you could have. I can keep throwing ideas at it, refine them, and collect them until the right ones stand out. It is like having a best friend who knows everything about YouTube and is always excited to talk about it. Being able to see the packaging before starting a video has also been a game changer.

The 10 BIG Ideas:

1) Q: What book, resource or creator expert have you recommended most to other creators, and why?

A: I am going to recommend a documentary and it is the best documentary I have ever seen. I have watched it a hundred times and I believe every single creator should see it. It is called The Greatest Night in Pop and it is about the making of the song We Are the World. It has legendary musicians like Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Quincy Jones, and many more. The greatest thing about this documentary is that it is the absolute best showcase of the creative process. You see these legendary musicians trying to make a song in 24 hours, you see the nightmare it is to organize, you see them in the studio, you see them struggle, you see them get frustrated, you see them want to give up, and then you see them pull it off and the song becomes a phenomenon. Being able to watch that process is the best fuel for your own creative work. Whenever you feel down or up, watch that documentary and it will make you feel hopeful for your own journey.

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2) Q: What $100-or-less creator tool or purchase has made a surprising impact on your channel? 

A: It costs about ten dollars and it is not a digital tool. It is a whiteboard. There is something powerful about physically writing your ideas down and being able to see them every day. Right above me I have the whole month split into squares, showing when I am recording and when I am posting. Every day I scratch off a square. It keeps me accountable in a way that paper or digital tools do not. On a whiteboard you can doodle, draw arrows, move things around, and it feels like a creative playground. Because it is physical, it feels like more of a commitment and that has made a big difference in how I plan, create, and execute.

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3) Q: What’s a video flop that taught you an important lesson on your creator journey? 

A: This is actually two back-to-back flops that taught me the biggest lesson about YouTube. The first was last December. I worked a month and a half on a video about the Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz movie and why they became the most expensive piece of film memorabilia in history. I spent over 150 hours on it, did the most research and editing I had ever done, and thought it would change everything for my channel. At the time I had 2,000 subscribers. I posted it and it completely flopped. It was dead in the water and it hurt badly. I spent about a week recovering and then started on my next video in January, about stereotypes in Hollywood and how actors fight them, using Dave Bautista as an example. I posted it and it flopped even worse, with a 0.3% click-through rate, which is almost impossible to get even if you tried. That was the lowest I have ever felt in over ten years of making YouTube videos. I thought about giving up. But that video slowly started picking up views without me touching it and now has almost half a million. The lesson was that sometimes it just takes time. The second lesson came from the video I made right after, which became an instant hit, got almost 4 million views, brought in 30,000 subscribers, and led to me being in Los Angeles with Spotter Studio and Colin and Samir. If I had quit after those two flops, none of that would have happened. If you truly want to do this, push through the flops.

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4) Q: If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it, that would get a message out to millions of Creators, what would it say and why? 

A: I would say, “Don’t forget about the soul.” We all work hard to optimize our videos and our packaging, but sometimes I see content that feels soulless. I respect creators who keep something in their videos just because it makes the piece feel unique, even if it is not the most optimized choice. It could be a ten-second moment that shows their personality or adds something special. I think holding on to those moments is important.

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5) Q: Along the journey, could you tell me about your more memorable video project you've brought to life, and  how you came up with the idea?

A: One that comes to mind is a video I made about computer screen movies, which are films that take place entirely on a computer screen. I love those types of movies and wanted to talk about how creativity can come from limitation. At the time I only had a few hundred subscribers, but I decided to reach out to Sev Ohanian - the producer and writer of one of the films. I sent him a very honest cold email saying I had nothing to offer in terms of audience or views, but I would do my best to tell the story well. He said yes, and we were supposed to talk for twenty minutes but ended up talking for over an hour. That was three years ago. This year, thanks to Spotter Studio bringing me to Los Angeles, I visited him at his studio in person. It showed me that as long as you do good work and offer value, it is not about your size as a creator. You never know what can happen, so do not be afraid to reach out.

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6) Q: If you could bring to life any video idea with any brand what would it be and why?

A: : I would love to partner with movie studios to make behind-the-scenes pieces about how movies are made and to visit sets with exclusive access. That would be incredible. And if Conan O’Brien counts as a brand, I would do anything with him. I basically idolize him, and now that he is doing some acting, maybe our paths could cross.

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7) Q: What’s the BEST advice you'd give to a smart, serious creator who just turned Professional?

A: Treat it like a job. When I first started doing YouTube full-time, I was not monetized yet and I was not keeping a schedule. I would wake up whenever I wanted and work on videos whenever I felt like it, which meant I might only post once a month. Once I started treating it like a real job—waking up at a set time, having a schedule, keeping a to-do list, and taking proper breaks—it made a huge difference. It still stays fun, but keeping yourself accountable will save you a lot of stress in the long run.

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8) Q: What's the biggest challenge you’re facing in your creative journey right now? How can the Spotter Studio Community help support? 

A: I am still struggling with packaging, especially thumbnails and titles. My background is in video, so I have always focused on making the storytelling as good as possible. But if they do not click, they do not watch, and I still have trouble getting people to click. Spotter has already been a huge help by giving me new perspectives and helping me brainstorm better options, but developing that intuition for what will get clicks is still something I am working on. 

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9) Q: What idea are you most excited to create next? 

A: I am working on a video about Quibi, the short-form streaming app from 2020. Almost every major studio in Hollywood invested, putting in around 2 billion dollars to create a platform for vertical movies on phones. They had the biggest directors, actors, and stars, but six months later it failed. I want to dig deep into why it happened, leave no stone unturned, and hopefully talk to someone who worked there.

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10) Q: If you had a million dollars to make your dream video, what would it be? 

A: I would partner with Dolby and IMAX and the biggest cinema companies, get a ship, fill it with gear, and sail to the most remote inhabited island in the world where people have never been to a movie theater. I would build a temporary theater and play them a film. I would want to give them that experience of going to the movies for the first time, with popcorn, soda, and everything that makes it special.

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Final Note

Toni’s ideas help remind creators that persistence matters as much as talent. From cold-emailing Hollywood producers with only a few hundred subscribers to bouncing back from back-to-back flops, his journey shows the power of showing up and taking your shot. Whether it is building a small theater for film lovers or sailing to a remote island to share the magic of cinema, Toni proves that the best ideas come when you stay curious, stay open, and keep creating.