Funeral arrangements have been set for movie marketing pioneer Joseph Farrell and will be private, his publicist said Thursday.
Farrell died Dec. 7. He was 76.
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Farrell is survived by his wife, Italian actress Jo Champa and his 7-year-old son, Sean.
"Jo Champa Farrell and Sean wish to thank everyone for their outpouring of cards, flowers, food and calls that have warmed their hearts at this difficult time in their life," Joseph Farrell's publicist said in a statement.
The family is asking for donations to be made to Oceana and Sailors for the Sea, organizations that work to protect oceans across the world.
Farrell is the former chairman and CEO of National Research Group, Inc., which became a leading motion-picture research company under his watch. He is widely credited with introducing a number of essential market-research practices that are now industry standards, such as tracking, test screenings and trailers.
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He also developed the now ubiquitous method of analyzing movie-going audiences in four distinct age/gender groups called “quadrants.”
Farrell, who had a Harvard law degree, also worked as a producer, founding FP Productions in 2003 with a first-look deal with Disney.
The company went independent in 2009 and just completed the feature “Joyful Noise,” which will be released by Warner Bros. next year.