Antes de se tornar documentarista, George Ungar foi pintore ilustrador, com trabalhos publicados em várias revistas canadenses como Maclean's Canadian Forum, Cinema Canada, This Magazine, Books in Canada e Music Magazine. Suas pinturas ganharam exposições no Canadá e México. Nos anos 80, passou a ensinar no departamento de Cinema da Concordia University, em Montreal e, ao mesmo tempo, elaborava projetos cinematográficos. Durante o período que realizava "Champagne Safári" (que levou 16 anos para ser finalizado, de 1979 a 1995), produziu e dirigiu o curta de animação "The Wanderer". Participou da equipe de "Paradise" (1984), curta dirigido por Ishu Patel (indicado ao Oscar) e "Heavy Metal" (1980), dirigido por Gerald Potterton.
Before he became a documentarist, George Ungar was painter and illustrator with work published in several Canadian magazines such as Maclean's Canadian Forum, Cinema Canada, This Magazine, Books in Canada and Music Magazine. His paintings were exhibited in Canada and Mexico. In the eighties, he went on to teach in the department of Cinema at Concordia University in Montreal and, at the same time, he worked on film projects. During the period when he was making "The Champagne Safari" (wich took 16 years to finish, from 1979 to 1995), he produced and directed "The Wanderer", a short cartoon. He took part in the team for "Paradise" (1984), a short film directed by Ishu Patel (indicated for the Oscar) and "Heavy Metal" (1980), directed by Gerald Potterton.