Smiley Face was made by Greg Araki, who has made some really dark, depressing, and generally fucked-up shit. I mean, he has a movie called "Totally Fucked Up." If not Smiley Face, he may be best known for The Doom Generation. He also made a few movies with James Duval, who was the crop duster's son in Independence Day (his first big film IIRC) and Frank the Bunny in Donnie Darko.

Araki made Smiley Face because his last few movies were so depressing, so he wanted to do something a little brighter. That's why it has "basically no plot," it's a feel-good (ish?) movie.