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Tribeca debuts documentary on DJ AM, who survived a plane crash but couldn't lick his demons

DJ AM got a second chance at life. The celebrity deejay, born Adam Goldstein, survived a 2008 plane crash in South Carolina that killed four. Goldstein and his frequent collaborator, Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, survived.

DJ AM got a second chance at life.

The celebrity deejay, born Adam Goldstein, survived a 2008 plane crash in South Carolina that killed four. Goldstein and his frequent collaborator, Blink-182 drummer, Travis Barker, survived.

Just a year later, Goldstein was found dead in his Manhattan apartment from an accidental drug overdose. He was 36.

Goldstein was born in Philadelphia and lived near Rittenhouse Square until he moved to Los Angeles at 14. He attended the Philadelphia School, Greenfield Elementary and Friends' Central. A documentary profiling Goldstein's life and struggles, "As I Am: The Life and Times of DJ AM" is having its premiere run at the Tribeca Film Festival, continuing through Sunday in New York City.

"I feel like Philly never really left his bones," said Kevin Kerslake, the film's director. "He always considered himself a hometown boy. I think that's an interesting sort of little known fact about AM that I think people from Philadelphia will take some pride in. The music, the history of music in Philly and the legendary list of musicians that are from there - I think AM can rank among them."

Goldstein had a troubled home life during his years here, including a strained relationship with his father, whom Goldstein described in interviews as an addict, abusive and secretly gay. Despite this, Goldstein spoke of Philly with fondness.

"I love Philly. Philly has more character and flavor than any city I've ever been to," Goldstein told the People Paper's Ellen Gray in 2009, shortly before his death. "I think energy kind of gets soaked into old buildings."

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Kerslake dedicated a previous film, 2011's "Electric Daisy Carnival Experience," to Goldstein, who had played the festival a few months before he died. In addition to his success as a solo deejay, Goldstein was a member of Crazy Town. The group is known for its hit 2000 single, "Butterfly."

After Goldstein's death, Kerslake provided the deejay's family with footage for tribute videos. Kerslake said that Goldstein's mother, Andrea Gross, approached him about doing a documentary and offered him Goldstein's laptops and personal belongings for research.

Even though he had the family's blessing, Kerslake said that the documentary isn't a "puff piece." He was determined to tell a thorough story of Goldstein's life, struggles and all. And Goldstein's family backed him on that.

"I wanted to be honest about what he was contending with," Kerslake said. "It was important for me and also the family that we told the truth about every single one of those aspects. And to their credit, they stood by their commitment to telling the truth, even sometimes when it details some things within the family that aren't all that flattering."

A hard-luck life

Goldstein's life was full of hardships. He struggled with drug addiction for years and at one point weighed over 300 pounds. He attempted suicide at one point, but his life was spared when the gun jammed.

He seemed to be turning it all around. Goldstein lost 155 pounds after gastric bypass surgery, People magazine reported in 2005. Before his death, Goldstein had seemed to beat his other demon - he was sober from drugs and alcohol for the 11 years before his death. He had even been working on an "Intervention"-style series with MTV in which he helped steer young teens with addictions similar to his on the road to recovery.

"The fact that it was so much else going on in AM's life . . . demons, entrepreneurial achievements . . . the fact that it was all bottled up inside somebody who was so generous with his time for others, the Achilles heel I guess that he had - that's what I wanted to sort of track throughout his life," Kerslake said.

In addition to his music documentaries, Kerslake has directed commercials and music videos for bands like Nirvana, the Rolling Stones and Green Day. However, he said, his latest project is different.

"I've done a lot of documentaries and profiles throughout my career," Kerslake said. "I've never met anyone who was so universally loved."

Kerslake said it wasn't hard finding people who were willing to talk about Goldstein. An IMDB page for the film lists Barker, Samantha Ronson, Diplo and Steve Aoki as interviewees. (His celebrity ex-girlfriends, Nicole Richie and Mandy Moore, are not listed.)

"It was super easy in that sense in terms of everyone wanted to sing his praises and was very eager to express what a profound impact that AM had on their lives," Kerslake said. "What became challenging in a way was to find people who really dug a little deeper and were able to articulate what was unique about AM, whether it was his deejay skills or his service to others."

Kerslake said he hopes that people will walk away with an appreciation for Goldstein's music and an understanding of the challenges he faced.

"I also think it explores in crisp detail what somebody is suffering from the issues that AM battled - dependency issues or PTSD or the struggles of an artist in our time," Kerslake said. "I think that will resonate very strongly with people not only in the music or film industries, but also just the general public."