By: Sophie Wang

Greta Gerwig’s new Barbie film production forced the world to run out of pink. Production designer, Sarah Greenwood, said construction of the expansive, pink Barbie Land at Warner Bros. Barbie studio at Leavesden, England made an “international run” on the fluorescent shade of Rosco paint.

Rosco supplies the entertainment industry with products like paint, brushes and a lot more things for set building, including certain tints specifically formulated for the screen.

Lauren Proud, Rosco’s Vice President of Global Marketing said in the Los Angeles Times that “they used all paint we had,” but that it was in scarce to begin with during the movie’s producing date in 2022. The company was still dealing with pandemic-related supply chain issues and recovering from the 2021 Texas freeze, which had damaged dangerous raw materials, Proud said. The freeze caused problems with millions of gallons of stockpile, as well as the equipment needed to fix it, Henry Cowen, National Sales Manager for Rosco’s Live Entertainment division, said in a 2022 interview with the Guild of Scenic Artists. Even so, Proud said Rosco did its best to deliver. “There was this weakness, and then we did everything that we could, I don’t know to whom they can offer credit,” before acknowledging, “but at least they did clean us out on paint.”