Sundance ticket packages go on sale Thursday. Here’s what to know before you buy.

Ticket packa ges for the Sundance Film Festival go on sale Thursday, and those who know they want to go should start lining up.

“It is a bit more complicated than just buying a ticket to see a movie at your local cinema,” said Jeff Levine, head of audience development for the Sundance Film Festival. The festival, which runs Jan. 21-31 in Boulder, rewards persistence, he added, but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult or complicated. It just requires a little bit of planning.

Here’s how to go from clicking purchase to taking your seat.

First ask yourself: Who am I?

Before you start tumbling through the festivalgoer flowchart, ask yourself what kind of moviegoer you are.

If you’re just dabbling during the festival’s first year, then you really don’t need to do anything until Jan. 8. That’s the date single tickets are released for $37 each.

The downside to waiting for single tickets is that pass and package holders get first dibs to select screenings Jan. 7. So there is a chance that many of the star-studded flicks and buzzy up-and-comers will be booked before single ticket holders get a chance at them.

That said, most movies play three or four times during the festival. And if you don’t snag a seat ahead of time, you can still try your luck by standing in the waitlist line.

“Honestly, the waitlist is the most fun you’ll have at Sundance,” Levine said. “This might sound crazy, but it’s exciting. You don’t know if you’re gonna get in. Everyone’s in the same boat. You’ll make these kind of instant friends, and it’s right before the screening, so there’s just electricity in the air.”

If you want more than a one-off, then packages are the next step.

This year the festival offers four packages. Every package comes with 10 tickets, the only difference among them is when you can see movies.

The full-festival package ($925) gives you access to 10 tickets at any time during the 10-day festival.

Second-half packages ($450) can be redeemed for screenings during the second half of the festival, Jan. 27-31.

New this year are the encore package ($625), which grants access to movies anytime during the festival except a film’s first public screening, and the matinee package ($350), which can be used for movies playing before 5 p.m. from Jan. 25-29.

Lastly, if you plan on going all-in, with unlimited access and priority entry at the theaters, then you’re looking for the second half express pass, a $4,500 commitment that will get you into pretty much any screening you want during the second half of the festival, from Jan. 27-31. (First half and full festival unlimited passes are only available to those who have donated more than $5,000 to the Sundance Institute.)

What about that waitlist?

The waitlist is a two-pronged process that starts online then moves into the streets.

Exactly two hours before a movie begins, the online waitlist opens on the Sundance app. Audience hopefuls claim a spot and receive a number.

Then it’s time to head to the theater.

Hop into the physical line according to your waitlist number — but don’t drag your feet getting there. Anyone who arrives within 30 minutes of the movie’s start ends up at the back of the line, regardless of their number.

That doesn’t mean you have to be there one hour and 59 minutes ahead of time. As long as you have secured your waitlist number, just make sure you’re there more than 30 minutes out.

Do students get special deals?

The Ignite by Adobe ticket package is specifically for attendees ages 18-25 or for enrolled students of any age. For $275 students and young adults can get 10 tickets to use between Jan. 24-31. The Ignite package goes on sale Thursday with the other packages.

The festival also introduced single tickets for students this year. For $15 students and young adults can pick out single screenings beginning Jan. 8.

To claim discounted single tickets, student attendees must preregister starting Dec. 8. The discount is limited to two tickets per screening and up to 20 tickets per user.

There are also plenty of free events happening throughout the week that students and community members don’t have to preregister for, like film industry panels, Q&A’s and live podcast tapings. The extra events schedule will be released around the same time as the film lineup in mid-December.

Find a film friend or four

So what if you don’t fit neatly into the packaged categories? Maybe you want something between one and 10 tickets? Or maybe you don’t have $500 lying around to spend Thursday.

Levine’s advice is to find a few friends who want to go in on a package together. Package tickets are transferable, so you can go in on a 10-ticket package with a few people and divvy it up however you want.

For instance, you could split a package with someone else and go see five movies together. You can split a package among five people and go see two screenings together. You can use all 10 tickets on one screening if you want.

In other words, 10 tickets doesn’t have to mean 10 movies — it just means 10 tickets.

So you bought a package. Now what?

Now you wait.

When the lineup is released in mid-December (Levine did not have a specific date to share yet), you can start researching. Movies premier during the first half of the festival, and are shown again, sometimes multiple times, until the end. So figure out if premiers matter to you, decide which movies are on your can’t miss list, which ones fit into your schedule, and what other events you want to squeeze in .

The next key date is Jan. 7, when you can assign tickets to specific screenings.

“There’s a bit of, you know, jostling,” Levine said. “People have all kinds of strategies. The most prepared people will have prioritized what films they want to see, and they’re gonna make sure that’s the first ticket they’re going to assign.”

And don’t get too hung up if you can’t get into your first, second or third choice, he said. Ticket package holders can change their minds about a screening all the way up until four hours before the movie starts, so some seats may open up.

Besides, part of the “Sundance spirit” is being open to things you don’t know, Levine said. “Discovering your next favorite filmmaker, or being in the audience for someone who’s really having their breakthrough moment, that’s only gonna come if you think widely about what you want your Sundance experience to be, and you really mix it up between things you know and things you don’t.”

Hickenlooper and Baisley clash over Trump, fuel prices and Social Security in US Senate debate