Pauly Shore's still hoping he'll get Richard Simmons' blessing before shooting a feature film about his life ... and he thinks his short film's the key to securing it.

The actor/comedian was at the Hollywood Burbank Airport Wednesday when a photog asked if he had a message for the reclusive fitness guru. In a nutshell, Pauly's pleading with Richard to watch "The Court Jester" on YouTube and keep an open heart while he does it.

PS says he thinks he's got a shot at convincing Richard if he sees the flick -- which premiered at Sundance on Friday night -- but he just doesn't want him to flat-out dismiss it beforehand.

Now, he's not going to turn down constructive criticism ... Pauly says he wants Richard's honest feedback, and he's willing to make changes.

Interestingly, Pauly says he wants Richard on board as a full-time collaborator for the feature-length biopic -- he even envisions them with matching "Richard" director chairs on the set.

Bottom line ... Pauly says he's moving forward with the project -- but there's a whole lotta room for Simmons' touch if he's interested in surfacing ... which we highly doubt.

This saga's been making fans sweat for a couple weeks -- last week, Richard made it clear he was in no way involved with Pauly's project ... and to get his point across he even broke his public silence via Facebook, which he's only done twice in about a decade.

Pauly's clearly not deterred by Richard's condemnation ... he's insisted Richard might just change his mind -- and last week, before the 'Court Jester' premiere, he suggested the 75-year-old icon was softening.

He claims Richard texted him earlier in the day to wish him "good luck" at Sundance.