Love this. I have run in to this multiple times. I'm not even a "big shot," but I still get lots of amateurs asking me to read their feature scripts or watch their material. Honestly, I usually give it a shot and read the first page, or watch the first minute, but like Josh said, I know whether or not it's worth my time almost immediately. What really bugs me is when the same people who write/shoot crap keep coming back to me over and over asking me to make their latest script into a film. It really does put me in an awkward position. However, I would say the key to Olson's article here is the third to last paragraph. When you're asking a professional for an opinion, you need to realize that they don't owe you anything, and are doing you a tremendous favor IF they read your script (big IF). I've actually been on the flip side of this before, with my latest short film, Attic. It's a suspense/horror film, and I wanted to get a professional director's take on it. Turns out, there is a pretty well known horror director (who shall remain nameless, but he directed one of the hottest horror films that came out last year) who graduated from the same college as me. He is very successful. I found him on facebook, sent him a link to my film, and very respectfully asked if he would be interested in watching it. I explained that, if he didn't have the time or desire to watch it, I completely understood and thanked him for the time it took him just to read my message. A few weeks later, he got back to me, he watched my film, he actually liked it, and gave me some really great notes. I was floored! So, I think it's key that, if you are going to approach a professional, but VERY aware of how much a sacrifice it could potentially be for them to read/watch your material. Give them an easy way out. Make it clear that you do not expect a response from them, that you are the one imposing on their valuable time, and that you will never send a follow up e-mail/message to them if they don't get back to you. I did all of these things, and I think it helped the director feel safe enough to respond, knowing that I wasn't going to be come a creepy facebook stalker or anything like that if he got back to me.