Inspired in part by real life and the writer's dreams, "Spyware" follows the story of a Silicon Valley computer programmer who suspects she's the target of a tech-savvy Internet predator. In the film, the programmer must team up with her teacher to discover the identity of the killer before it's too late. Richards, 42, directed, produced and wrote all the music for the film, which was written by his wife, Deb Richards - "the creative one," he joked.

However, their attention was diverted earlier this week from the film, as Deb Richards, 41, had to rush her husband to the hospital Tuesday night with appendicitis. She had to remind him that his health does, in fact, take priority over the movie premiere, he said.

"I'm sure the experience will be incorporated into a future movie," he said.

A Gilroy High School graduate, Grant Richards went on to earn two bachelor's degrees, two master's and is working on wrapping up a third master's in film. He currently teaches film at Gavilan College and gives workshops at Morgan Hill's annual Poppy Jasper Film Festival.

"I come from a family of writers," Grant Richards said. "And I've always loved movies. I tend to see everything."

Richards joined forces with his wife, an accomplished screenwriter and San Jose native, more than three years ago and they've been happily bouncing ideas off each other ever since.

"She's always thinking about story ideas," Richards said. "All the stories and characters are hers, especially for 'Spyware'. Some of it is autobiographical."

The movie's villain is based off a real-life experience of Deb Richards - but Grant Richards wouldn't delve into the details because he didn't want to spoil the movie.

"I have a good imagination apparently," Deb Richards said. Although she's had no formal training, her husband encouraged her to get her ideas down on paper, then to go back and perfect them. Fifteen years as a computer programmer gave her the experience to write the lead female character for "Spyware", she said.

"Spyware" is Grant Richards' third feature. He's also directed and produced a two-hour documentary, "A Woman's Place in the World", and a feature film, "It'll Happen", which is based on a series of bad dating experiences, including online and blind dates gone awry.

"I had every bad date imaginable," he said.

Grant Richards originally cast himself as the movie's male lead. Although he also enjoys acting, he said he doesn't do it often. He does like to makes a cameo in his films, though.

"I'm like a Hitchcock," he said.

From the excitement of filming to the laborious task of turning raw footage into a feature film, Grant Richards said he loves directing, producing and collaborating with his wife.

"All the jobs are so different but I love them all," he said. "It kind of consumes my life at times. For 'Spyware', I did about 20 people's jobs. That's why it took so long."

"Spyware" stars local actress and model Tasha Standridge and a Utah actor, Tom Post, as her male counterpart. The cast includes several other local actors and the crew is mostly made up of Grant Richards' current or former film students at Gavilan.

"Every time Grant needs help, I just kind of latch on," said Juan Robles, a former student of Grant Richards.

Like many members of the cast and crew, Robles volunteered countless hours to see the project to completion.

"I'm just proud of working on it," he said. "It was a long process."

With more than a decade of teaching experience and numerous films under his belt, Grant Richards is one of the first people Poppy Jasper founder Jay Jaso turns to when scouting out prospective presenters and lecturers.

"He obviously knows his stuff," Jaso said. "He knows what it takes to put a film together and he's actually done it himself. He's not just teaching it."

Grant Richards' students are "listening to a master," said Jaso, who's anticipating Richards' latest film. "Grant is someone that we'll certainly keep our eye on."

'Spyware' World premiere

Rated PG-13

Platinum Theaters, 6851 Monterey Road, Gilroy, 7 p.m. Saturday

Other show times: 9 p.m. Saturday, 7 and 9 p.m. Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday