The time to honor Asian contributions to film and television is upon us. This year’s Asian Excellence Awards takes place on April 23rd at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Reading over the list of nominees, I had two thoughts. Wow, there are only nine categories. This will be a short evening. And wow, they actually found enough Asians to fill nine categories? Asians are making some headway.

Back in 2001, BET broadcast the first BET Awards and had 15 categories in film and music. Last year, BET had 14 categories in sports, music and film. However, BET did spin off most music awards to the BET Hip Hop Awards.

In comparison, the Asian Excellence Awards started in 2006. Only three years later, nine categories across only film and television shows better representation in Hollywood. This year’s awards shows will even be broadcast on E! Entertainment and Comcast on Demand. Whereas the past two years, they were shown on the now defunct AZN channel.

Hollywood is now more willing to include traditionally under-represented minorities in shows, e.g. Heroes, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy. All in all, great improvements have been made.

Kollaboration is offering discount on tickets to the event. Leave the hip-hop gear at home though. The event is black tie only. Added bonus: Jabbawockeez and Kaba Modern perform.