Jonatan Briel grew up in Holzminden, not far from Hannover. From 1959 to 1962 he studied Business Administration. He established the Youth Film Studio of Holzminden in 1962 and remained its director until 1964. In 1965 he began his studies at Freien (Free) University and at Technical University in Berlin, and became an assistant to Peter Lilienthal. The following year he transferred to the Berlin German Film and Television Academy (DFFB). In 1970 Briel became an independent film producer with Sender Freies Berlin (Transmitter Free Berlin), SFB. Berlin became Jonatan Briel’s adopted hometown from 1965 until his death there in 1988. In preparation for his work with film scripts and films, he toured the major cities of Europe, and lived and worked for a time in New York, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston.