How I Made It: Orly Adelson

The gig: President of Dick Clark Productions. Orly Adelson oversees the production and distribution of the company’s TV shows, including “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” the Golden Globes, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, “So You Think You Can Dance?” and “ Shaq vs.” The company has about 50 employees. “Primarily, my job is to resolve problems. . . . If there is no problem, then nobody needs me. That’s the idea of hiring good people.”

Coming to Hollywood: After serving as a lieutenant in the Israeli army, then earning degrees in sociology and musicology from Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, “I met a man who was an American in the [entertainment] business, fell in love and followed him to Los Angeles. It was that simple. And when you get to this town, what else can you do?”

Big break: Twenty years ago, Adelson went to work for TV producer Michael Brandman, who specialized in adapting plays into TV movies. How did someone with so little experience land her first job in television? Adelson was friends with the Brandmans. “He and his wife believed in me. You always have to have people who support you and believe in you in order for you to accomplish what it is that you want. You could say it’s hard work, but hard work comes with luck.”

Adelson sold her first movie to NBC: “Shoot First: A Cop’s Vengeance,” which aired in March 1991. The film -- about rookie police officers in Texas, one of whom went rogue -- launched Adelson’s career as a TV movie producer.

Sound advice: While working on the movie, Adelson dealt with an NBC executive, Ruth Slauson. “Women in the business often say they don’t support each other, but I don’t believe in that. Along the way, many women have been extremely supportive,” Adelson said. “One thing that she taught me: ‘Don’t hold on to things you cannot change.’ ” Several producers were working on the project who had more clout, and Adelson felt powerless to shape the movie. Slauson’s attitude, she said, was, “If you can’t influence it, move on, sell me the next one, and make a great movie.” Adelson’s philosophy is similar:“If you stay focused on the product, then you are ahead of the game. Everything else just becomes an inconvenience.”

Murder, sports and Dick Clark: During a career that spanned the production of nearly 40 TV movies, including such titles as “Murder Between Friends” and “Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story,” Adelson made a movie for Lifetime that caught the eye of an ESPN programming executive, Mark Shapiro. He asked Adelson to produce for ESPN and she made “3: The Dale Earnhardt Story” and the series “Playmakers,” which depicted the salacious off-the-field lives of fictional football players. ESPN canceled the show in 2004 after one season. “The NFL decided they didn’t want us on the air,” she said.

In early 2008, she got another call from Shapiro, who had left ESPN to become chief executive of theme park operator Six Flags Inc. About nine months earlier, Six Flags and RedZone Capital Fund had bought Dick Clark Productions for $175 million. Shapiro told Adelson that she was becoming the president of Dick Clark Productions. “There were no negotiations. I heard myself say, “OK.”

Preserving a legacy: Dick Clark, 80, no longer has a financial stake in the company, but he continues to host “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from New York. “I went to meet him the minute I took this job,” Adelson said. “When you carry his legacy, in terms of, this is the Dick Clark company, it’s nice to know that he’s extremely supportive of what we are doing. And the respect we have for him is enormous.”

It’s live TV: “Within a month and a half, we produce three major shows,” she said: “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” the Golden Globes and the Country Music Awards. “We usually collapse after this period.”

Personal: Adelson, 53, lives in Brentwood, is married and has two children. “I have an extremely supportive husband,” she said. “You can’t do it without a supportive husband.”

Hobbies: Reading, Pilates and yoga. “It’s the best thing for any executive to start your day with a moment of Zen. Remember, you have to combine the creativity with the business side, so you have to try to look at everything with a fresh eye.”

meg.james@latimes.com