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Sean Foley is being remembered as a loving family man and a pioneer in reality television by those who knew him best after the former Survivor editor died from brain cancer.
“Foley was my dearest friend, a loving family man and a creative force that helped shape the landscape of television as we know it,” Andrew Zoeller, a reality TV producer and best friend to Foley, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
During the Wednesday, Dec. 10 episode of Survivor season 49, there was a tribute to Foley, who served as an editor on the series from the first season until the 31st.
Sean Foley/Facebook
“In loving memory of Sean Foley, our friend and colleague,” a black card with white writing read on the screen.
For Zoeller, Foley was also known as his “wingman” after the two met at Gladstones in Malibu in summer 1992.
“I soon started an editing career and Sean was very intrigued by the Avid editing system I was working with…it was one of those lightbulb moments for him and he wanted to learn the craft. From the moment he started editing I knew he was special,” Zoeller tells PEOPLE.
When Zoeller began working on a small show called PETV, Foley became his first hire.
“He was off to the races at that point becoming one of the top editors in Los Angeles,” he adds, saying that once Foley made it to Survivor, “the rest [was] history.”
“Sean put his stamp on everything he did and Survivor was no different,” Zoeller tells PEOPLE. “He was an integral component to the creative look and feel of the show. It quickly became a pop culture phenomenon and the benchmark of all other ‘reality’ shows and he was the center of it all. He helped create an entire new genre of television in this country that will be forever with us.”
In addition to his work as an editor, Foley also served as a producer for The Contender and Whale Wars, among others, and most recently, Naked and Afraid Camp until he died in November.
“I called him ‘The Adventure Guy.’ Always joked with him that he spent more time on location [than] in Los Angeles,” Zoeller tells PEOPLE of Foley.
“I never heard [a] negative word about Sean, he was one of those kind, warm-hearted and respectful people that others gravitated to, and treated everyone the same, whether a tribal chief or a set PA,” Zoeller says. “He was one of the good ones and this industry lost a creative Titan with his passing. He will always be remembered by the people he touched and is dearly missed.”
Eric Van Wagenen also worked with Foley after the pair met as editors on Survivor in 2003, eventually working on other projects together, but they “stayed friends for over 22 years.”
Sean Foley/Facebook
“Sean Foley was one of the pioneers of early reality television. When the very first Survivor was shooting in Borneo [Asia], Sean was on location, sitting in a shipping container editing the series as it happened,” Van Wagenen tells PEOPLE. “He was very influential in developing the show’s signature style, and helped establish the unique storytelling and creative editing for all future reality television.”
The Emmy-nominated editor says Foley went on to set his sights on other career opportunities.
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“It was inevitable that Sean would leave the edit bay and expand his creative influence as a producer and eventually as a showrunner. Sean was beloved by everyone who worked with him or for him. He was collaborative, generous, supportive, and above all else, just a kind person and a really good friend,” Van Wagenen tells PEOPLE.
Foley is survived by his wife, Sondi Kroeger Foley, and their two sons, Conner and Liam.
