Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas have become a destination for the West Coast film industry. But the region also continues in the tradition of George Romero and his zombie epics, as a workplace for aspiring independents working on locally based productions.

Take Bruce Koehler, a commercial producer/director-turned-movie producer/director. His production company -- Valencia-based North Shore Pictures -- is wrapping up filming on "End Game," a crime thriller that centers on a psychopathic killer/predator.

The cast is local or has local connections, including Olympic gold-medal winner and professional wrestler Kurt Angle starring as the bad guy, along with Jenna Morasca of "Survivor" fame.

Sam Nicotero, who plays a forensics inspector, is a busy Pittsburgh-based actor whose credits include "The Mothman Prophecies" and "Hoffa," and who has a role in the upcoming "My Bloody Valentine," which was filmed here last summer and will be released next month.

Jonas Chaney, the former broadcaster who's now director of public affairs at WPXI, plays a detective. The cast also includes Clayton Hill, who made his debut as the lead zombie in Romero's original "Dawn of the Dead" in 1978.

In "End Game," Angle's character poses as a detective in order to destroy evidence for a murder, and the tale becomes a cat-and-mouse police chase.

"End Game" is being filmed at several locations around town, including the Lafayette Hotel in Sharpsburg and on the rivers for some boat scenes. Yesterday, a nightclub scene was shot at Cefalo's Restaurant and Lounge in Carnegie. For a chase scene, the production used the interior and exterior of the home of Dave Czopek, a Shaler electrician who's also a friend of Koehler's.

Koehler went to North Allegheny High School and majored in communications at Clarion University. For the past two decades, he's been doing commercial and freelance production work through his company, Retro Media.

While he wants to keep making movies, he has no desire to head for Hollywood.

"The city has a lot to offer, in both the richness of its locations and a passionate pool of actors who live in the city," Koehler says. Because he has his own production company, he's able to keep some equipment costs down. "I've been shooting and lighting and directing for 20 years. With that experience, I am able to do with two to three people what a lot of film crews take 10 or 20 to do. It's a matter of efficiency.

"It definitely takes a certain passion," he continues. "I get a great deal of satisfaction when I create something, and I can sit back and show it to someone else."

Koehler has several other projects filmed and in the pipeline, including "19 Doors," another crime thriller filmed earlier this year, which is making the rounds in hopes of a distribution deal.

Angle wanted to add acting to his credits and had been looking for a film project that wouldn't conflict with his schedule on Total Nonstop Action wrestling.

"I enjoy the experience of playing a serious bad guy character. [He's] not at all the kind of bad guy wrestling character I'm used to playing," Angle says. He describes the character as "a uniquely smart and intellectual serial killer. He knows how to play the game with the law and fit into society without being noticed."

Angle says that he and Koehler plan to collaborate on future film projects, including a horror film next year. He also just released "Kurt Angle: Champion," a DVD featuring seven hours of wrestling highlights from his TNA bouts, along with memories about growing up in Pittsburgh.

Morasca landed in the national spotlight in 2003 as winner of "Survivor: The Amazon." She describes the story and Angle's character as "really creepy." "It's not a traditional stalking story, where she's just the victim. She gets involved with this guy. She's a risk-taker."

She was just starting another film project, "Drive-In Horror Show," a horror anthology due for release next year. But "End Game" intrigued her. "The script was interesting, and Bruce was willing to let us take the characters in the direction we wanted. He was open to improv."

And, the "End Game" project brought the former South Fayette resident, who now lives in New York, back to the area for a while.

"It's a major bonus for me. I get to come home."